by Brenda L. Johnson

Created on: June 21, 2008

By 2011, I will have four degrees. I definitely believe in education, but I am having second thoughts about formal education if it is not a bachelor's degree or a professional degree. From a very young age I believed that the bachelor's degree was needed as a baseline to get a decent paying job. The professional degree (medical, law) was needed to make the real money. Anything else, I surmised, was a waste of time. Nevertheless, I found myself going back to school to pursue a master's degree after earning a bachelor's degree in English.

At a recent event, I was asked about my professional background. After divulging my list of career and educational endeavors, I was poignantly asked, "What are you running from." Offended, I became defensive and offered that I was not running from anything. But, in the coming days I would contemplate this question and ask myself if I was indeed running.

After some quick thought, I realized that school was comfortable for me. I had always been a high achiever in school and I am and have always been an avid reader and writer. Beyond this, school allowed me to be in an environment where I was generally around others who were motivated and intellectually engaged (particularly at the graduate level). School had also been a time when I could get a little time off to travel both within and outside of the United States. I had also learned of many wonderful internship opportunities, exciting classes and seminars, and met interesting people. So for these reasons, I had been overjoyed with the formal educational experience. This is beside the point that education afforded me a level of prestige and is supposed to come with a money-back-guarantee in the work world.

However, I was forced to contemplate this question of whether or not I was running, and from what I was running. I have come to the conclusion that I am running from low paying jobs that do not utilize my talents and skills. However, going to school is not going to be the end all to finding a high paying, fulfilling career. I also realized that it was not so much a matter of running from something as I was running to an environment and experience that gives me joy.

Nevertheless, what translates into the work world is not necessarily the book knowledge but the ability to put practical skills learned in school to work. That due diligence used in meeting deadlines (meeting due dates for assignments), paying attention to detail in proofreading and editing reports (writing papers

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