Stop caring about your degree: How I look at college

It is common to think of college as a ticket that guarantees a stable uninteresting job allowing you to buy stuff. Supposedly, this will make you happy.

I hate this so much.

I think the previous generations' storage units full of crap didn't make them happy. The security they were promised is becoming less secure every day. More importantly, they traded their mission for their employer's greed, and that shit is fatal.

If that is what a degree gets you, I don't want it.

From that perspective, my degree is worthless. However, my college years are not.

I'm not against working for someone. There are plenty of really desirable companies out there. Even if they don't share my mission, I can't help but applaud their's.

All of these great companies all ask the same thing to job applicants. What problems have you solved, what things have you built, or what teams have you led? But only having a college degree leaves you with one answer: I'm sorry for wasting your time.

These questions offer fantastic guidance though. I try to spend as much effort and time on those three things as possible.

To be clear, this isn't so I can get a job at these companies. Really, it is all about my mission. Those questions just further prove that the ability to pursue it is super valuable. And no wonder.

It is a chance to be useful, connect, and touch the hearts of people around me today.
It is making something that I love (and hopefully others too.)
It is fixing things that are ugly and broken.

To me this is obviously so much more important than my degree. I often trade extra time chasing my mission for worse grades. I do good enough to pass and keep my scholarships, but I treat my classes as introductions to new ideas - not vital information for the test.

The world barley cares about my degree, and so do I.