Why I Should Not Have Gone to College

My whole dream throughout life was to go to college. To be the first in my family to attend college. In school you are always told that if you go to college there will be more job opportunities. This was the "right" way to go through life. Go to high school get a diploma, then go to college and everything will be okay. I am here to say this is not true in my case. Three colleges and three majors later I am now unemployed. All I have to say is why.

I started college after high school because that is what you are told to do in this country. So I did and it was the biggest mistake of life. I was not emotionally ready for college. Attending 13 years of school already, I just did not want to be there. It cost too much and I was in a major that I did not want to be in. Being a business major was not what I expected it to be. Unfortunately, the school I attended was taught the cut-throat business tactics that I was not into, such as lying, placing people last, and selfishness. These three traits I could not deal with nor did I want to ever possess them. Academics reminded me of high school except it was not free.

Two years later I start community college after working dead end food service jobs. I thought anything has to be better than this. I went to community college for two years and ended with an associates degree. The whole goal was to get into a 4-year university. I attended school year round (no spring or summer break). I worked tirelessly to get to the next point in my goal to a bachelor degree.

After community college a transfer to a 4-year university and had to start over. I stayed at this university one year longer than necessary. I added a minor thinking this would help my chances an acquiring a job as well as volunteer. I also joined an organization and held a leadership position. I started my job search in January, five months before I graduated and it is now July and I still have not found a job.

My journey to acquire a future full of opportunities has backfired. I thought college was the "right" path to go about this but apparently not. Times such as these I feel that my life would be the same even if I did not attend college as all. I am slowly losing faith in the idea of higher education. Maybe this is because I am unemployed or it is a deeper regret that I did not follow my heart instead. At this moment I have a host of education but no job to show it off.

Did I have to attend college to be unemployed, no. Did I have to attend college for any of the jobs I am currently applying for, no. The only thing college did for me is leave me with debt that I can not pay because I am unemployed with a degree in History and minor in Women Studies.