A common question that continually seems to be asked in today’s generation is, “is a college degree really worth it?” Ten years ago, maybe you could say that having your diploma with a bachelor’s degree was more valuable than obtaining one within more recent years, which may be somewhat true, but is that really the only thing to care about? Now a day everyone says college is a scam, “you’re just wasting your money”, “why would do you want to be thousands of dollars in debt”, the list goes on and on. Then there is people on the opposite side of the spectrum saying stuff like, “you won’t be able to get a good job without a degree!”, or the best one of them all, “have fun flipping burgers at McDonalds!”. None of these really hold any truth in my opinion and both types of people couldn’t be any more wrong. I say it all depends with what you want to do with your life and what you want to make of yourself.
For myself, I believe choosing to go to college was one of the best decisions that I ever made post high school. The people you meet, the experiences you have, the opportunities that arise for you, are priceless in my opinion. Not only was going to college one of the best decisions that I made, but going away from my home state was an even better choice. Attending UNCW provided me with some of the best times with people that I had no idea who they were three years ago and now I will connect with them for the rest of my life. Taking the step and going to a university so far without knowing a single person is a huge commitment. It really takes you outside of your comfort zone and enables you to see what type of person you truly are. You don’t have your parents to hold your hand every step, every time a problem occurs, or something happens that doesn’t go your way. Problem solving and critical thinking skills are quick to come into play and allows you to mature overall as an individual. It seems to me a lot of people that go away to college their first year are taken out of their comfort zone and are not sure how to react to the situation so they give up and transfer back to their home university. Which ends up leading back to the same old routines, bad habits, hanging out with the same friends who you grew up with. Take a chance and break the pattern that you are so used to being in.
Of course there is the positives and negatives to every choice we make whether it is to go to college or not to go to college. I have had a ton of fun and learned quite a bit, but who is to say that going to a university half hour away instead 6 and half hours away wouldnt of done the same thing. Well the simple answer to that is, a college right down the road would not of had the Atlantic Ocean a bike ride away. All jokes aside, nobody will ever have the answer to that question and that’s what brings me to, no matter what you decide to do, everything is going to have its ups and downs. All you can really do is buckle up, don’t look back and put in 100-percent effort.
To all the professors, classmates, and friends that I have encountered along the way, I want to say thank you all for making my college experience the best it could possibly be. At the end of the day, there is way more to college than just receiving a piece of paper and jumping right into a career that you will do for the rest of your life. Shout out to not only UNCW, but the Communication Studies Department as well, they have taught me more than I ever could have hoped for. So to answer the question, “is the tassel worth the hassle?” in my opinion, yes, the tassel IS worth the hassle.
~Nick Grimaldi
IMC Hawks Blog 