Every once and awhile I think ‘Did I really make the best choice not going to university?’. Trust me, I love my job, the work I do, and my career path. However, sometimes I feel as though something is missing. I have always been an ‘intelligent’ (as if you can measure a person’s intelligence off of grades) person scoring a tad over 98% in high school in my top 5 classes and having a 93% averaging all of my classes. But hey, they are only high school grades right? I also finished top in the schooling provided by my employer which was roughly 960 hours dedicated to one topic. I completed this with an average of 97.6%. I also would like to say that I have common sense as well. My current job requires it. I realize that to many of you these grades mean nothing but still, I am proud of my achievements.
I am very proud of my accomplishments but really, truly – they do not mean anything. If I would go to another employer that required a university/college diploma and said ‘Hey, check this out, I got these grades in high school and am specialized in (X) field’ they would probably laugh in my face. Or completely ignore me. I am pretty sure the latter would be less harsh. If I was in charge of hiring I would do the same thing. Why would I hire a guy with no formal education aside from high school when I can hire someone who has his undergraduate? The answer is simple – I wouldn’t.
As I am pretty sure I have stated (if not on this blog, on others) I am obsessed with numbers and finances. I would LOVE to have a degree in finances. This would allow me to potentially work in the finance field or I could even just use it for my personal knowledge. Both in my mind would be profitable. Especially considering I could potentially get this education for free or for very little money. Mind you, if I decided to venture into this route it would take me at least an extra year to start my studies. Despite this, I still think this would be the best route considering how expensive university could be especially since I would not want to go to school in Quebec.
This is a purely financial decision because if I went to school where I want to go to school (vague eh?) I would save a ton of cash because I would be able to live with my parents (extremely lame I know, but the saving of thousands of dollars is not so lame). Not only would this save me from paying a ton on rent, I would receive food for free. Well, I would be paying $200 for the both but this in my books is practically nothing compared to what I am paying now.
Mind you, this is all speculation. At the moment I have no plans to drop my current career to go to school to obtain a degree in finances. Honestly, this could also be considered a stupid movie considering my current job. I still have another year before I can even be considered for this program but I think it is much better to be prepared than to arrive confused. Who knows, maybe by then I will have made up my mind.
This all leads me to believe that I should go back to school for my personal gain. It could potentially be paid so why wouldn’t I go? Right? But if I went back to school, switched to a job in the financial field, and it turned out to be boring and disappointing. I don’t know how I would take such blow. So I think I will wait the year, apply for the program and see what happens. That is all I can do for now.
What do you all think? Should I consider this more? Or should I keep my current job?
That’s a tough call. I could see why you’d be considering the university route for long term financial stability. Also if you feel that something is missing, you should probably address that. It’s easy to stick with a career where you are content, but not truly satisfied. To me it sounds like you should jump at the opportunity of going back to school, especially if it could be all paid for and you could get free rent. It’s a bit of a risk, but probably worth taking.
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I am definitely looking into it deeper. And I am pretty much decided that I will be at least taking some courses.
I think the best option would be to look at online courses at the school you are considering to earn some credits while you are still working, then in a year if you do want to jump ship then you need less time, keeping you from work and income for a shorter time. Unless you do truly want a career in finance some day though I would stick with your current job.
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I am just wondering, how time consuming are these online courses?
Depending on the course, but if you are as good a student as you make it seem it should be a cinch. It will take less time than a regular course because you can allocate your time better than a lecture would. And homework gets combined with the initial learning.
I don’t want to commit to a set amount of time because I do not know the school, course, or your efficiency. But if I had to say I would guess I would say you could get a very good grade for about 6 hours a week per course.
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I am not worried about failing the course due to being a bad student. I just do not want to have to choose my career over the course, because I will. I am thinking about taking an open entry financial accounting 1 course this year. If it goes well and is not too bad (because I am very busy this year) I will think about adding one or two a year.