“So, what are you gonna do with that?”

The question most undergrads, especially those pursuing a degree in the social sciences (like I was a few years ago), dread being asked.

“Uhh, I’ll figure it out when I graduate” was what I usually got out, though on the inside, I had no clue. Part of why I got my English degree was I didn’t really know what I wanted to do and I thought it would be widely accepted. People always need people who can write, was what I heard.

Talking with my wife recently, I realized something about how I felt as I paid my way through UMBC: I had no idea I was making a purchase. I think it felt sort of like it does to pay for a trip on a cruise ship. You’re paying for the room, the food, and the activities/experiences.

Looking back, I wish I’d thought of it more as buying a house. A decision I’d live inside for a long time. One that would directly impact day-to-day comfort.

You know what’s crazy about college? Paying for a semester as a “full-time student” costs the same no matter what courses you take or how valuable they are. Granted, “valuable” in this context is very relative, but I just mean to convey that under the “full-time status” umbrella a 400-level Chemical Engineering course costs the same as ENGL 100. If someone took you to a new housing development, said you had to either buy the model home with bump-outs in every room, upgrades, and professionally landscaped yard for $x, or a different house in the same development that is new and clean, but doesn’t have any upgrades for $x, which are you going to buy?

I’m not going to tell you that you shouldn’t get an English degree. If you really want a degree in something, and you’ve got a vision for where you want to go with that, go for it. But, just keep this in mind: you’re not purchasing a 4 year trip on a cruise ship. You’re purchasing a product, and that product is you.

I wish someone had put it to me this way when I was in school. Maybe they did and I just couldn’t understand it at the time. I think we do a disservice to 17 and 18 year olds when we ask them to start working towards their career, when at that age they have no clue what they want to do or what work really feels like. (But, I think that’s a different post for a different time.) For now, I’ll just ask you, faithful undergraduate reader, to think about how you are going to look on the shelf with all the other products? How are you going to maximize return on your fixed bill? And, though this is a tough question to address before graduation, what kind of life do you want, and are you working towards it?

“Is your ladder leaning against the right wall?”