Importance of an Education

In 1966, I graduated from high school in the Spring and entered college in he Fall of that same year.  Two and a half years later, I left college because I was not happy, worked for a year then enlisted in the US Navy and after 2 years realized that in the military was not the place I wanted to be, so I left and returned to college and two years later received a BA degree.  Five years later, I entered Grad School and after 2 more years, I graduated with an MBA.

While my MBA opened doors that would have otherwise been closed, I hardly ever used the knowledge from my MBA in the discharge of my duties until I started designing and teaching classes in Project Management which lasted from about 3-5 years out of my 45 year career.

SO...  what was the point of my education?

From my standpoint, my education provided me with a lot of knowledge but did very little in the performance of my job or in my pay raises or advancements, except opened door as I mentioned.  Therefore, my career could have been just as successful had I received no education at all outside of high school.

First of all, when I left college in 1968 and entered the military, I could have remained in the military for 20 years and retired in 1990 at 43 years old.  At that point, I could have used my military experience and secured another job doing whatever for another 20 years and retired a second time in 2010 at 63.  I still would have been below FULL RETIREMENT AGE to receive Social Security, but I would have income from 2 other pension plans.

During my career, I had an opportunity to talk with a restaurant owner, who after high school got a job at that restaurant as a bus boy...  worked his way up to a waiter, then a cook, then chef, then assistant manager, then manager, and after all those years working for the company was given the opportunity to purchase the FRANCHISE and became owner.

He had no college debts that he had to pay off but when talking with him he came across as a well educated person.  During our conversation, he told me that he read a lot and learned most of his knowledge by reading as there was no tests or pressure on him to retain the knowledge he was reading so it was easier for him to remember.

When one speaks of the IMPORTANCE OF EDUCATION, one is always assuming that this means going to college, but college is not for everyone.  I was lucky because the GI Bill paid for all of my college education after I returned to college; otherwise, I would have had TONS OF DEBT to pay off with very little to show for it...  and, because of all that debt, I may have been forced to move out of the South where the wages are traditionally LOW...