On December 17th, Billy Willson created a Facebook post highlighting the reasons why he dropped out of his first semester at Kansas State University. The goal of this post was to make others realize that college is a "scam." He also stated "Gosh there are so many more reasons I could add, but just comment if you disagree or have reasons to add. I'd love to add to the discussion. TAG a friend in college, Tag your parents, share this if you agree, disagree. Let's just talk about it. Heck post a picture of yourself flipping off something you think is unjust in our society. #FuckInjustice." So this is me, adding to the discussion.
The first thing Billy said about college was the fact that he dropped out after finishing his first semester with a perfect 4.0 GPA "Not because I am averse to learning, but actually the exact opposite."
Hate to break it to you Billy, but I'm not impressed. You made it through the first few months of a four-year degree with good grades? Congratulations that must have been so tough. Sure, that's awesome and you should be proud of yourself, but let's not undermine the students who are busting their butts in the last semesters of their college career to earn a 4.0. It's not so easy then.
The next point that Billy made about college was "YOU ARE BEING SCAMMED." This is because he believes that an education is a waste of money and time on things that "You will never even use." Mr. Willson then validated his point by explaining "I once even had an engineer tell me 'I learned more in my first 30 days working than in my 5 years of college.' What does that tell you about this system?"
Billy, I don't know what your major was but my only question to you is, if you're interested in finding a career in engineering, where do you expect to find a job that'll hire a college dropout who has a buddy that told him he'll learn everything he needs to know in the first 30 days?
Also, about the money thing, college is not a small investment and we all know that. One of the main excuses for not going to school is not having enough money. Keep in mind that I enrolled in college with less than $100 in my bank account. After applying for tons of scholarships and working multiple jobs, I made it work. Not only did I make it work, but I also learned the true value of a dollar. Remember, it costs money to make money.
One of the last points made was "Colleges are REQUIRING people to spend money taking gen. ed. courses to learn about the quadratic formula (and other shit they will never use) when they could be giving classes on MARRIAGE and HOW TO DO YOUR TAXES."
As an interested reader, this point was huge for me. When I was in high school, I had a teacher who promised me that that general education classes are very important, and I would learn why on my own. I learned that these classes aren't meant to acquire useless information on "shit I will never use," but used to help students figure out what they're ACTUALLY interested in. Many high school graduates enroll in college with the thought in their head that they will study nursing, biochemistry, accounting, etc. But when they take the classes and find that they really aren't interested in these fields, general education courses are there to help these confused students.
Billy, you'll be pleased to know that there are classes on doing taxes. And let's be honest, do you really want to take a class on marriage? Will that help you in your intended career? Will it look good on a resume?
This Facebook post along with the thousands of comments added to it are providing the wrong impression of what a higher education really is. It's so much more than just a piece of paper with your degree listed on it. It's about experiences, networking, self-discipline and new people.
Your degree, future career and money will never let you down. You will never wake up one day and say "Man, I really wish I never went to college." On the other hand, you might wake up one day and say, "I really should have gone to college." This is because you avoided the opportunity to reach your full potential, making you stuck at a job that you really don't like and making less money than you should.
