Recently a journalist was scrutinized for saying that four-year degrees aren’t important to employers as far as the hiring process is concerned.
After hearing this, I wondered, “Could this be true?” And if so, why are so many people enrolled into four-year degree programs at universities across the globe?
Maybe this journalist was right and these degrees are dwindling down the line of importance. In fact, some of the most successful people in the world don’t have college degrees.
I asked a professor last semester to tell me, which was more important, what you learn in the classroom or what you learn in the “real” world.
He gave me the best politician’s answer he could give me and said that they are both equally important, but I had a feeling he wanted to tell me that experience is more beneficial than anything you can learn in a classroom.
After I stunned him with my question, what else could he really say while speaking in a classroom?
I also began to think about my boss this summer in Arizona. She had two degrees, one in English and one in philosophy, and graduated at the top of her class, but she was the head of the marketing and creative department in an international firm. She used neither of her degrees to get the job.
So maybe this journalist is right. Maybe we are all in college to meet our significant others and possibly build alcoholism.
After dwelling on the situation for a while, I thought that maybe this guy had a point. Maybe four-year degrees aren’t important to employers. In fact, some of the most successful people don’t have degrees.
Well, maybe the degree itself isn’t important. I feel that with my degrees in journalism and public relations I will have many job opportunities available only because I will have a degree. Of course, I can’t be a neurosurgeon, but I can do more than write at a newspaper the rest of my life.
So even if this journalist is somewhat right about four-year degrees losing their importance, I feel as though most people would much rather be on the safe side and get the degree(s), because an employer is much more likely to hire a person with a degree than someone who doesn’t have one.
So if you have seen this dreaded article, don’t lose hope. After being in college for three full years, I feel as though I would be lost trying to get a job if I had not been here.
Sometimes I don’t feel like I need to know when or how public relations originated, and I don’t need to know how Aristotle felt about journalism. However, someone does care about these things, and studying them is helping me achieve my degrees.
I just hope that students at MSU won’t be part of the 60 percent that drops out of college, because in the end you can’t be Donald Trump without a degree unless you are a prodigy like Bill Gates.
Bailey Singletary is a senior majoring in communication. She can be contacted at [email protected].