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Why I Dropped Out

Why I Dropped Out
Poor experiences and lack of relevance can lead students to ask what they’re breaking the bank for. Photo by Nina Matthews.

They kept telling me all I need is a university degree. They kept telling me in order to get a job, I need more education. More learning. More pieces of paper.

What they didn’t tell me is in order to accomplish this necessary feat, I needed to invest up to $80,000. They didn’t tell me that, on top of tuition, I would be paying thousands for books and a premium to take some courses.

They didn’t tell me my necessary foray into higher education would bankrupt me.

So now I’m typing out this article, seething. Here I am, three years after I started, no degree and much lighter pockets. No degree and a pile of loan repayment bills from the bank. No degree and no future.

You see, my money was going to waste. Unlike high school, the textbooks were actually up to date… but this wasn’t a good thing. They were too up to date. We had to buy the brand new edition for the brand new school year, of course. The difference between the two editions: three less pages and a different font color on the front. In one of my classes the professor made us buy THEIR book! I think that class was called “Suckers 101”.

More than that, after an advisor told me a Philosophy degree was the way to go, I spent 3 years before I worked up the courage to ask “What’s the point? Why am I doing this?”

“If you don’t know… you shouldn’t be here.”

So I left.

But who did that hurt? Not the prof who chiseled me and couldn’t tell me why. Not the advisor who probably wouldn’t remember my name, factor story unless you paid them (oh waaaaait). Not the school, although their stats took a microscopic hit that I’ll bet no one noticed.

Just me.

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