Okay, so my parents sent me to Kindergarten a year late. My birthday’s on the 3rd of October, and I should have gone in 1999, when I was almost 5, but instead I went in 2000, when I was almost 6. By the time I realized what they had done, it was too late of course. I was doomed to 13 years of being a year behind. As high school was coming to an end, I was getting excited. I was going to go to a 4-year-college to get a Bachelor’s Degree. My parents always brag about how smart they are, and say it’s because they went to college. I thought that if I went to university and got a Bachelor’s Degree, I would finally accomplish something that most people didn’t. In 2012, most kids my age had their high school diploma, while I still had another year to go. But I was thinking “In 5 years, I’ll have a Bachelor’s Degree and they won’t”.
I’m now in my sophomore year of college, and I’ve been checking on all my friends from high school. The vast majority of them are doing exactly what I’m doing. Not only are they getting a Bachelor’s Degrees, they’re getting it 4 years after they graduated high schooll. The people who got their high school diplomas a year before me are also getting their Bachelor’s Degrees a year before me. No one seems on the verge of having to drop out or take an extra year. I ask my current college friends if it’s a different story with their former high school friends and it’s not. What’s going on? Statistics say most people don’t have a Bachelor’s Degree.
First of all, no. Stop thinking that way. Your worth is not defined by the age at which you get your degrees. What about the people who take gap years? Are they somehow lesser because they decided to do so? I’ve seen a lot of people who define their worth based on the prestige of their college. This is even sillier.
Also, not everything is a competition. Why should your success be measured by other people’s failure? In any case, I think there might be a few reasons for the discrepancy between what you observe and the statistics. Firstly, the distribution of people with Bachelor’s Degrees varies among different age groups. A greater percentage of young people have them compared to older generations. Furthermore, you are basing your observations on people who went to your high school and the high schools of your college friends. It is likely that few of you went to for example, poor, inner-city high schools where dropout rates soar, and few people pursue postsecondary education. Thus, you don’t really see/interact with these people, and assume that everyone is getting their Bachelor’s Degrees.
Life is not a race. It doesn’t matter how old you were when you started kindergarten or how old you’ll be when you graduate from college, or whether or not you get a graduate degree before someone who was born the same day you were.
What matters is the quality of the life you live. That’s it. Everything else is just a building block to enable you to live the kind of life you can be proud of.
It’s ABSOLUTELY NOT about any one being “better than” anyone else.
I don’t mind being the oldest of the people getting their Bachelor’s Degrees in 2017. What bothers me is the fact that most people my age will have got it a year prior. I wouldn’t mind getting it late if most people didn’t do it period.
I’m in the same position as you where I started school late. I was reading at 4yrs but as my mom said I couldn’t hold a crayon or pencil at five to save my life. I was going to be attending an all day private kindergarten and they didn’t want me “not keeping up”'with something so inconsequential. They kept me out another year. I’ve never, ever felt behind. In fact, I think it helped me in a lot of ways and I’m graduating at the right near the top of my class and headed off to a great school.
How would anyone know anyway unless you told them? Enjoy college and life. It’s not a race.
Once again, I’m not dwelling on the past, or the fact that I’ll be the oldest person getting a Bachelor’s Degree in 2017(or 18). My problem is with the fact that it seems like most people have Bachelor’s Degrees. So no, I don’t have a problem with getting a Bachelor’s Degree late of the people who get Bachelor’s Degrees. I have a problem with the fact that most people get Bachelor’s Degrees.
My daughter will be 23 when she receives her degree. 24, if she is accepted to and decides to attend her gap year program. She rarely feels insecure about it-what’s the point? She’s doing well, she’s proud that her peers are doing well. Life is not a competition.
You know what? You should be thankful you’re healthy and able to go to college. You know what’s not fair? Coming down with schizophrenia when you’re a freshman in college. That’s what happened to my son. Do you think he would have been happy to graduate when he was 30 instead of falling ill? Be thankful for what you have. If you’re focusing on details as silly as this, you’re going to have a hard road ahead of you.
I’m sorry about that. I never said anything about ‘fair’ or ‘not fair’. But I don’t understand what being healthy has to do with being able to go to college.
I’m sorry about your son. Please don’t suggest that I think this Illnesses aren’t worse than what I’m talking about. Just because this isn’t the biggest issue doesn’t mean I’m not allowed to talk about it.
@creamcake, if you’re harboring resentment over starting school a little later than some of your peers, you are wasting your energy that could be used for something positive. Your parents kept you out because you were immature in comparison to what was being asked of you. It is much, much better to be the oldest in the class than to be the youngest, especially if you are small, or behind in motor skills, attention span, or if you were a highly emotional or sensitive child. Boys, especially, benefit from starting Kindergarten a year later. There are great advantages to being the oldest–you probably were the first to drive. You probably were seen a bit more as a leader than if you’d been the youngest. You probably got better grades all through school because you were the oldest, and you probably did better in sports.
Now at college, everyone is grown up, and you are all equal. No one cares how old you are. NO ONE. Not one single person is thinking about this, except for you. Just do good in school, and be happy. Also, getting a degree is not going to set you apart in any way, no matter how many degrees you get. What are you contributing to the world, really? That’s what will set you apart.
I still don’t drive, and I don’t need to. I live only a few blocks from school. And no, I didn’t get better grades than everyone. You missed the entire point of my question. I don’t have a problem with the fact that I’ll be the oldest of the students getting Bachelor’s Degrees in 2017. That wouldn’t bother me at all if most people my age still didn’t have Bachelor’s Degrees. According to this website, http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d13/tables/dt13_104.20.asp, only 40% of people have Bachelor’s Degrees. If that were true, then I would be the last of that 40%, but I’d still be above the 60% who don’t have Bachelor’s Degrees. However, this just doesn’t seem to be true and it seems like by the time I get my Bachelor’s Degrees, most 23 year olds will have had theirs for a year.
I’m not sure anyone is getting your point. Why does this bother you? The BA per capita varies by location and by economic diversity as well as other aspects. In some areas of the country or a state (or economic class), almost everyone goes to a 4 year college. Some areas, only a few go. Again, why does it bother you that a lot of people around you are getting educated? This is a good thing.
