This is exactly why I am not too excited about my graduation Ceremony, but I am going to it!!!
It might sound strange to many, but for those who know, I finished my degree in Mechanical Engineering to a Masters with a 1st Class. My parents and close friends are excited to come to my graduation, especially my parents as it means a lot to them.
Many people who may have wanted to go to University but couldn't due to any reason may be offended by this, but I feel a lot of them would change their opinion if they read my post and then go to a University.
Ultimately this is from my experience and these are the reasons why I am not looking forward to the ceremony:
I don't feel like I learned anything in the degree
Through this degree, I felt like sitting in lectures ran by people with horrendous communication skills, going through pointless assignments and exams with only a smattering of practical work here and there taught me nothing. People get the impression that I know a lot but to be honest, I forgot 85% of the things, the rest I don't understand it anyways. Even If I understood something I don't have a clue to how to apply it.
Its pointlessly expensive
My experience with Brunel University taught me one thing clear; Universities are there to make money ruthlessly. If you ask me, education has become a money making scam. When it comes to offering money when they are supposed to (i.e Scholarships and Fee remission) they look for ways to not pay the students.
Knowing what I know about the University, I hate supporting this scam money hungry, organisation who don't really care about true education. I would rather not want to support them.
I don't want to work in the 9-5 life.
9 to 5 life to me is a form of slavery that no one seems to realise. I guess people want to assume it is the only way, due to social conditioning. Even though a degree doesn't determine where you want to go into, Ultimately a degree such as the one I completed is geared for a 9 to 5 work typically. Or at-least it remind me of a 9-5 life.
I want to stay away from this and focus on building a way to escape the 9-5. To be in an environment which in my projects a way of life that I dislike makes me think I am wasting my time there.
Pressured to get a degree with a meaningless 1st class.
I love my parents and they want the best for me and whatever they wanted me to do is what they thought was best from their experience. A first class is not that big of a deal when it comes to getting a job. My parents who grew up most of their life in Bangladesh, a country where a 1st Class is valued highly, pressured me to get a 1st.
Of-course they didn't flat out force me in any brutal way, but the pressure were there. Whereas I wanted to do a lot of things on the side, i.e sports like boxing and MMA, many other activities that might add experience which will mean more to me. Now that my family realises that its not as easy to get a job, me spending lots of money for them to allow me to take part in the ceremony feels like I am trying to keep someone else happy.
The smile with me graduating might actually not be from the heart, and that is one of my main reasons I don't care too much about the ceremony.
Because I already done it, it is nice to keep my family happy. If I didn't get a 1st family will keep saying I can't get a job because I didn't get a 1st.
Why I am still attending graduation
Although, I must say, attending the graduation ceremony will make me feel that after it I am opening a new chapter in my life. A chapter where I know what I want. A chapter where I am a more mature person who is more goal oriented who learned valuable life lessons.
My family will be happy with this. I will also be able to see some students that studied with me till the end that I may never see again. So seeing everyone happy there will be good.
Image source: http://thebulldogbark.com/5530/features/graduation-gift-ideas/
http://davidyap.com/9-5-job-sucks/