Summer is the time of year when you really want to take a break from the daily routine and enjoy life to the fullest. I don’t know about you, but for me it is really a season of school holidays, summer solstice, summer nights, holidays and of course 101 weddings and 1001 high school graduations.
But it is also a time not only for fun and celebration, but also for planning for the “next season” In the autumn, nothing really changes for office workers, perhaps an employee starts their career, school kids go back to school and high school graduates start their studies. And these plans need to be organised in the summer between a break.
This is quite a serious and a stressful situation for any young person, even those who have always expected their ‘destiny’ since childhood, because you never know if your goals or dreams will come true. And of course, there are young people who do not want to study for many different reasons. If 10 years ago it was a question of money or desire, now I hear more and more that there is no point to study, because the best school is the ‘school of life’. But maybe it has always been that way, because Paul Arden wrote in a book ‘Whatever You Think Think Opposite (2006)’ that it is better not to study because “you don’t know what you want to do with your life if you are studying”. Can’t imagine if my doctor would agree with that!
Of course, higher education is necessary, but in my experience, when you work in a creative field, the employer looks at your professional experience. Often, they ask you to submit a creative portfolio or do an assignment to test your skills. when you look at a job ad (in Latvia at least), the first thing it says is that you need a university degree in the relevant field, followed by that you need work experience, but I think these should swap places
So why is higher education necessary?
– Critical thinking
In my experience, those who have a university education can think critically and to take in the information around them. This was very clear during Covid and now with voting in the US and the war in Ukraine. Of course, there are exceptions.
– Information acquisition and exchange
Is there anything I should add here? The main goal is to gain knowledge!
– Contact
New friends and contacts with which you can not only grow your network and learn outside the lectures, but also create mutual projects.
It would be interesting to find out how this situation will change in the future, but at the end of the day, both education and professional experience are necessary. But which is more important? That’s up to you.
