University: worth it?
I’m about to tell you my views of university life in Colombia. First of all, know that here in Colombia having an education is associated with climbing the social ladder. Keep in mind that a big majority of Colombian families are low/medium income and having a child graduated from university is a seal of approval in their mind, an achievement for social validation.
And thats not different from my story, first of all I had to make the decision of what to study not even having 17 years old and in retrospective that is a BIG decision for a kid. Imagine taking a decision that form many people defines they life path, I believed I was mature enough for it, but in reality at that age nobody knows anything.
And like that I make the decision, starting university having 17 is not strange in Colombia because you are expected to start right after you finish high school. And majority of my classmates were the same, just kids that took a decision based on intuition.
Some people, as you can find anywhere, are more ‘confident’ and always disclosed that the career they chose was the best decision they had. That at just 17 they knew with all their soul that it was life calling decision and they were going to fulfill their dreamed job: ambassador, politician, political advisor, you name it.
But now that I think about it, I never really had a clear view of what I was supposed to be or do with my academic journey. I liked the classes I took and learned a lot but didn’t pay too much attention on the future associated with a job associated with my academic career.
Because deep down I always liked money, I always was more prone to be in side hustles and more interested in them more than thinking in my dream job. I used to sell chocolates at grade 9, helped to sell underwear with my uncle in grade 9 and 10, was involved and learned a little about video editing in grade 11.
And thats a big problem with the university, now that I think of it I consider it a full time job without they payment. It takes you a lot of your time and mental energy, plus I was 100% dedicated to university so I didn’t have a job.
Big problem. Because during the time frame yes, I sill keep knowing that I wanted to make money but didn’t really have a realization that I was just lost in a race for a jobs that I didn’t even knew what it was. Luckily I met my best friend in University, we had similar upbringings and also were lost about the university future.
But we knew at that time we liked money so it was instant friendship. With him we were able to share ideas, build side projects and just talking about the future and how good it will be.
And here is the point, university takes a lot of your time but thats not an excuse to stop your side hustles. What I did notice kills your dreams is not surrounding with like minded people, I can imagine a daily life surrounding with people from university. They have different goals and aspirations, I consider them boring and chasing goals that I don’t find attractive. But I also feel happy for them because they are happy with their lives and, I believe, they are achieving their goals.
I like the thrill of always thinking about new ideas, being creative and speak my mind freely. Twitter was a good way to express that and with this email list too, and with the upside of having the chance to meet with a lot of people that share same goals and we can help each other to fulfill projects.
Thats an overview and a reflection of what I believe about university life, it might be similar to yours and I know my story might be similar to yours in some regard.
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