It started with a conversation. It was Spring of 2022 and I was talking to Bri, my manager at the Farmington, Maine Walmart. We discussed my plans for after high school when I mentioned I was considering applying to college. She said “I don’t think anybody should go to college. It’s dumb and a huge waste of time.”

After completing my first year, I decided that I would talk to her again and see if her views lined up with some of the opinions I myself had formed over my first year. During Spring break I went back to the Farmington Walmart and sat down to properly interview Bri and get more in-depth with her. She was busy, but I managed to steal her for 10 minutes.

I started off by asking her if she even went to college or if she was forming these opinions over what she thought college was about rather than a first-hand experience.  I was shocked to discover that she has attended four colleges in her years as a student. She started at Clarion University in Pennsylvania, then moved to Plymouth State University, then to Quinebauge Community College in Connecticut where she got her General Associates degree, and finally at Southern State New Hampshire University where she got her Masters degree in human healthcare with a focus on case management. I had no idea that she had attended any college let alone had a master’s degree. I then asked her why she thought college was a waste of time and money. Her response intrigued me. She said, “I think that it is a waste of time because you can still get a job with decent pay without a degree.” You can make the same amount of money without obtaining lifelong debt”. She went on to defend that last statement of “lifelong debt” by describing her own experience.  She owes a lot of money in student loans but has no intention of ever paying them back. 

Overall I agree with this statement. I do think that you can make a livable wage without having to go into debt with college. However, I disagree with it because of my own experience. I am a Communications and New Media major with a focus on video editing and post-production. I know from my dad, who has worked in video production and television,  that you need a degree to even be considered to be hired in that field. That little slip of paper saying you graduated is the difference between getting the job or someone else getting hired. I personally think that for what I want to do I shouldn’t need to go to college because I feel that I can learn all I need to know from the internet (No offense to my teachers in CMNS).

I decided I would compare Bri’s views with my advisor at Southern Maine Community College, where I go to school.  Her views were a lot different than what I expected.

Rachel Guthrie got her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Southern Maine. She later got her master’s degree in a M.E.D program while working as an Ed-tech at Cape Elizabeth Middle School. When I asked Rachel if she thought college was essential to be successful in life she said, “Not essential, no, but super helpful. Finishing high school happens when students are 18. That might be called an adult but, there is still quite a bit to learn about living life. I believe that, for me, most of that learning happened in college. Earning a living, supporting myself, feeding myself, doing my own laundry, you know the things I mean. Even more so, learning to be on time, learning to set boundaries in relationships, learning to wear the right thing.” I was surprised to hear that she doesn’t think that college is a necessity to succeed in life. She went on to say “As a college professor, I can tell you that more than half of the students I work with, as freshmen, and sometimes sophomores, think it’s ok to come to class 20 minutes late every day. They think it’s ok to wear pajamas, or smell unbathed, or be stoned. Many of them have no idea that their breath is stinky, or that when they email me, and address me with “Hey” it feels disrespectful.” She ended by saying “Honestly, usually by the time they are graduating, there has been so much growth. I get so many Freshmen in my office, in tears, saying things like “My boyfriend broke up with me…wahhhh….” and of course, I am sympathetic. My cat died, my grandmother is sick, my best friend broke her arm…there are all manner of students who are not yet equipped with the life skills needed to handle these things. That’s kind of what college can be about, along with giving you the skills you need for a career. In Senior Portfolio, I help students apply for jobs, write cover letters, make their portfolios nice, and learn to write up a freelance contract. Not all students NEED help with these things, but it does give them all a leg up in life, and many students do need that.” 

I was very surprised to hear her answer. I honestly thought as a student advisor that she would be 100% on board with college being the #1 thing to help you in life. Instead, she pointed out how it is not about necessarily what you learn book-wise in college but more about learning valuable life skills that you wouldn’t necessarily get while in high school, giving you an advantage over other people. 

I was very surprised to see how differently these two women responded to the questions. I asked very similar questions to both of them.  Bri understood the questions as college being a waste of time and money while Rachel took the questions as college being a resource for real-life skills. I think that they both make good points and they both have strong and valid opinions about college.

I think I mostly agree with my manager Bri about college. I do think that college is a huge waste of money., However, I don’t think that it is a waste of time. Like Rachel said it’s about learning real-world experiences and how to overcome them. I think that college can be helpful but you can also learn valuable life lessons from working and you can make a livable wage without the need for college.