To be honest, I didn’t.  When I first went to college back in 1987, I wasn’t very concerned with a degree or with learning.  I had just graduated high school as an “honor graduate” and was enjoying the freedom of being “on my own”.

I really didn’t know what I wanted to do and when an opportunity to make $30,000 a year without a degree arose, I jumped at it.  Despite the success and six-figure salary that followed, it’s still one of my biggest regrets.

I guess what I’m getting at is this.  Do I want to go back to school to say I have a piece of paper?  Do I want to go back to school to learn something new?  What do I want?

I mean, truthfully, if all want is a degree, I can get a degree pretty easily from any variety of diploma mills.  Again, truthfully, to a lot of employers, it doesn’t really matter where you get the degree, but rather that you have one as an employment criteria.

What’s important to me (and should be to prospective employers) is what I learn.  Regardless of a degree, if you don’t know what you’re doing, then what good are you?

I worked for one of the largest companies in the world.  One year, this company hired any and every graduate from the CEO’s alma mater.  In one week, three new assistant managers showed up, fresh out of graduation ceremonies.  One lasted three days.  One lasted a few months.  One lasted about a year.  Not a single one was prepared for what they faced in the “real world”.

My point is, if you’re considering going back to college, do it for the right reasons.  If all you want is a degree, then get it the fastest and easiest way possible and move on.  If you want to learn, make the most of your opportunity.