My Education Matters, but That's Not All
Giving that Ol' College Try
I remember that the advice I got about furthering my education beyond high school stressed the importance of 'just doing it'. It was more important to go to 'any college' than worry about the name on the side of the building. One opinion at my graduation even expressed that 'degree-comma-yes,' was the only thing that mattered anymore. An unusual message for such on otherwise, celebratory day, particulary before entering the traditional career world.
Graduation
Yes, I graduated from the University of Phoenix. What may be different than what that name implies today is that I attended at a campus extension, but it was not an online experience. It wasn't Harvard, but it was very standard, instructor-led, in-person, university instruction. Emailing was seldom used and still early on its path towards wider adoption; the fastest home modems at that time were only 56K at best (compared to today's GB's of data), and 28K was still the most common speed in actual use. Napster was still available, and SMS largely wasn't.. And yes, AOL was still king, sending out pittances of 'free-trial-internet minutes' (minutes!) on shiny, silver CDs. If you wanted to engage online, it took effort and a lot of patience!
Whether we like it or not, all college names carry a brand and tell some kind of story on their own, even though it may have no reflection of the actual situation of the graduate. Assumptions about degrees are made, and incorrect ideas about other facts happen as well. What matters most to finishing a product well is diversity in opinions that created and evaluated it.
Following my passions at Central Washington
I did have a traditional high-school-to-college trajectory, like a lot of other people, before my graduation journey began. I followed my passions for music and exploring cultures from around the world. But Life has a funny way of making mincemeat of a well-laid plan. It's up to us to find a new path to success. If it hadn't been for this adventure, I might not have discovered exploring my creativity through technological problem solving. Sometimes, the road that takes unusual turns offers beautiful, if unexpected, vistas.
My story is non-traditional, but it gave me some of the things I'm most proud today.
Extra-effort, patience, tenacity, and results are traits that still serve me well today. My long career with the world wide web is something that was still just a dream at even the top universities, when I was attending, and has done the most to prepare me for the next phase in my career path.