The decision to go to university is one of the most important choices a young person can make. Is it worth studying? What is university really about? These questions trouble many people facing the choice of an educational and career path. In this article we’ll discuss the benefits, the challenges and the essence of studying, helping future students make an informed decision.
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- 1 The benefits of studying
- 2 What is university really about?
- 3 Studying — step by step
- 4 Study hard, get into a good university, and a job will be waiting
- 5 How to gain experience at university?
- 6 Which degrees lead to a job?
- 7 University is worth it for the network
- 8 What do I owe to university?
- 9 Is it worth studying?
- 10 Summary
The benefits of studying
I can say without a shadow of a doubt that I’m happy with my studies. I chose a good field, learned interesting things (including the basics of personal finance) and found my passions. However, I know quite a few people who aren’t happy. Some think they chose the wrong field, the wrong university, the wrong city. And some say university is a waste of time.
Whether it’s worth studying depends on individual experiences and expectations. In my opinion it’s absolutely worth it, but the key to being happy with your studies is the right attitude.
What is university really about?
To begin with, so you don’t come a cropper at university, you have to understand that university and school are two different things. At school we were taught. It was enough to pay attention in class, then do your homework — and you already knew enough for a pretty good grade. The tests, meanwhile, had exactly the same content as the lessons. And the lessons had what was in the book. One book! University is something else.
Here there are no lessons in which you can learn something. In a lecture, the lecturer gives you basic knowledge, which you either write down or don’t. Then you have to work through these topics on your own, using notes, books or the internet. That’s exactly what studying is.
You have a topic to work through, you look for books, you read and compare what different authors have written on it. Then you go to a tutorial, where the instructor will require you to already understand the subject of the class. Tutorials are there to practice what you’ve studied on your own. So you could say that whether it’s worth studying depends on whether you can work independently.
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Studying — step by step
- During the lecture, the lecturer conveys basic knowledge about a chosen topic.
- Based on lecture notes, books and the internet, you work through the topic on your own.
- In the tutorial, you practice applying what you’ve learned.
So much for the theory. In practice, most students skip the second stage. They go to the lecture and then expect to learn it in the tutorial. That’s a school approach, not a university one. A tutorial is not a lesson.
Study hard, get into a good university, and a job will be waiting
The second thing you have to understand, so as not to be disappointed, is that at university you learn theory. You have to master the practice yourself. Don’t expect that after a „Finance and Accounting” degree you’ll be an accountant, a financial analyst or a stock-market investor. You’ll simply be a bachelor or master of finance. For this reason, many people who went to university convinced by the slogan „study hard to get into a good university that leads to a job” claim that it’s not worth studying, that it’s a waste of time.
These people, however, were guided by outdated rules that haven’t worked for a long time. They worked when the matura (the Polish secondary-school final exam) was a challenge, when 20% of people passed it. Back then there were so few students that jobs were waiting for them. Now the matura is standard, and over half of people complete a degree. It’s surely normal that, since half the population has higher education, the mere fact of completing a degree guarantees no job at all.
But let’s come back to the fact that at university you learn theory. What do you mean — after all, to complete a degree you have to do an internship! Well yes, that’s true; to pass your studies, you have to do a six-month internship. But that is decidedly too little to gain real experience. So you have two solutions: either you join a student organization or an academic club, or you spend more time on internships.
How to gain experience at university?
I chose a student organization, Studenckie Forum Business Centre Club. Its goal is to promote entrepreneurship within the local community. The organization has projects aimed at various groups: above all students, but also children, teenagers and adults interested in business or investing. The organization’s core activity is carrying out these projects.
For this to be possible, you need the involvement of people dealing with various areas of business. You need a marketing department to give the organization visibility. To manage people, you need an HR department. You also need an IT department — to create and maintain the IT infrastructure. And of course you need the members of the individual projects. They do the basic work: finding speakers, renting rooms, arranging catering, securing gifts and prizes.
But the workers aren’t everything. Each department, after all, has its own head, and the whole organization has a president. And students take care of all this, gaining valuable professional experience.
Many students gain experience by participating in student organizations, academic clubs or student governments. For others, professional internships are an excellent option, allowing them to gain real experience in the industry. Both of these forms of activity are extremely valuable and help build professional competencies.
Which degrees lead to a job?
Many people wonder which fields are worth studying so that employers line up for you. Don’t expect a master’s diploma (let alone a bachelor’s) to suddenly make employers fight over you. I’ve already explained that this is an outdated way of thinking. Out of a hundred students completing a given field, there may be one „gem” who gets recommended by the lecturers to headhunters. I know such cases, but they’re absolute exceptions. For the vast majority, employers won’t line up.
A diploma today plays a role similar to the matura — it’s a common requirement in job postings. It won’t, however, automatically make you attractive to an employer. A diploma gives you the chance to apply for a position, but it’s your experience and skills that decide whether you’re hired.
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University is worth it for the network
One of the main reasons it’s worth studying is how easy it is to make new acquaintances. Especially if you come from another town, live in a dormitory and join a student organization. That combination gives you enormous opportunities to build new contacts. Who knows — maybe you’ll build a business with someone from university? Maybe the friend you’re drinking with right now, or the friend you’re dancing with at a party, will in the future be your valuable professional contacts? After all, if you know someone, you can approach them differently: the contact is closer, more natural, and it’s easier to talk honestly.
What do I owe to university?
What I owe to my studies is that I got to know the world from its economic side. A humanities person and artist learned the basics of economics, learned the basics of investing, and caught the entrepreneurship bug. „Rich Dad Poor Dad” was recommended to me by the instructor of the Fundamentals of Finance tutorial, and it was Kiyosaki’s books that started my journey to discovering myself. That’s the most important thing I owe to my studies: discovering myself, understanding what excites me and awakening my passions.
The second thing is that I learned how to learn: to look for sources, extract the most important content and understand it. I passed many subjects, but I don’t remember more than half of what I learned. However, whenever I need to recall something, it’s easier for me.
Statistics can serve as an example. It was one of the hardest subjects for me; I barely passed. I didn’t understand what standard deviation, the median or the first quartile were — or at least I couldn’t calculate them. But when I decided to become an entrepreneur, this knowledge turned out to be very much needed. I had to conduct market research myself — design questionnaires, collect data, analyze it and draw conclusions.
Learning statistics again turned out to be trivial. In no time I learned to calculate and understand the statistical measures I needed.
Is it worth studying?
The decision to go to university is very individual and depends on many factors, such as career goals, interests and financial means. For many people, university is an important step in professional and personal development, opening the door to new opportunities. But it’s not the only path to success for everyone. It’s worth carefully thinking through your life goals and considering whether university is the best way to achieve them.
Summary
Deciding to study is an important step in the life of every young person. University offers many benefits, such as professional and personal development and building a network of contacts. But it also comes with certain challenges, like the costs or the time it takes. It’s worth carefully weighing all the pros and cons in order to make an informed decision that will be best for your future.
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