<p>For all those who are past college.</p>
<p>Its framed and hanging on my wall in my office. </p>
<p>The rhetorical question you ask is best answered with a more philosophical approach. A degree is more than just a piece of parchment or “license” to work in the professional circles. It represents four years of hard work, a lot of maturing, a great degree of personal growth, making life long friends and preparing me for the toss and tumble world of adulthood. It is not a technical training certificate. It matters not if you are majoring in English, Engineering, French, German, Latin, Music, Philosophy, Political Science or Chinese Studies. The new Secretary of the Treasury apppointed by Mr. Obama is an Asian Studies major. He was not an Economics or Finance major. Your degree launches you into the working world and its up to you to apply the general principles you learned. Some of what you learned is just special knowledge that you save in your heart or use in social circles. For some there will be a direct link between their degree and their career, for others no link whatsoever as life is more often serendipitous. Take what you love to learn, for it is a special time in your life. All through High School you had to take what the School Board required of you, or what you thought you needed to be accepted into a good university, not necessarily what you like and enjoy. In college you will have more freedom to explore those subjects which excite you. College is an expensive right of passage, but its also an invaluable lesson and process in your journey in life.</p>
<p>Finally, there are lots of kids who major in esoteric liberal arts courses and still get into Medical School and Law School. </p>
<p>So dont worry about whether your degree, your major match up perfectly with your career. Just be yourself.</p>
<p>Working as a Medical Research Specialist…until I figure out if I want to go to med school or do graduate work.</p>
<p>My friend graduated from UF and now he’s a greeter at Wal-Mart.</p>
<p>Thanks Noucousin,</p>
<p>The reason why I made this thread was that I got the general impression that the undergrad degree is not really what makes or breaks the college experience.</p>
<p>Pawn, you are correct. Most people associate you with the LAST institution you train at, eg, fellowship, post doc etc. The farther you climb the ladder, the less your undergrad education matters. Most of us from Podunc U who ended our academic careers at HARvard are always thought of as Harvard grads. Therefore, don’t stress over not achieving your first goal as a youngster. Use the challenge as a motivating factor as you mature and gain knowledge of the premier programs in the discipline you desire to study.</p>
<p>I received my undergrad degree, grad degree, and post graduate certificate IN my current field of work. In other words, I’m working in the field in which I got my college degrees. Mine is an allied health profession.</p>
<p>DH also is working in his field…per his degree. He’s an electrical engineer.</p>
<p>Now regarding the diplomas…well…mine is hanging in my laundry room, and I have no idea where DH’s is.</p>
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<p>It depends on the field. My undergraduate has served me well. I’ve been working non-stop in a high paying field, has never been laid off( unless I decide to quit on my own for personal reason). But I did not graduate from a prestigious college. I just entered this field at the right time.</p>
<p>My undergraduate diploma is hanging next to Happydad’s undergraduate diploma right on the wall here so I can look at them while I type madly away at the computer. I think, but I am not absolutely certain, that our graduate diplomas are in the bedroom closet. None of them got framed because we would have had to pay for it whereas our own Happymoms were delighted to shell out for the framing of the first degrees.</p>
<p>My undergraduate degree: Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology
Work experience due to that degree: Two seasons of field work in historical archeology in the US, and one lab job in my graduate field (soil science) because the hiring manager had had an old girlfriend from my undergraduate college. I might have got the job anyway as it was at the same university where I’d just received the M.S., but all my boss wanted to talk about during the interview was the old girlfriend.</p>
<p>Happydad’s undergraduate degree: Biology
Work experience due to that degree: Graduate assistantship in Biochemistry while completing M.S. and Ph.D. Now working as a senior scientist in Biotech.</p>
<p>And I’m not working in archaeology or in soil science. I’m now teaching English as a Second Language. Life is long and you may be surprised where you end up.</p>
<p>My h and I are both still employed in the field we majored in - engineering. At the time, it never even occurred to me to major in something that didn’t lead directly to a specific career.</p>
<p>My career is in the field I received my B.S. degree in. Now my Masters degree is hanging on the wall and I have never done anything in that field.</p>
<p>I hardly did anything with my undergraduate B.S. in Elementary Education from a no name college (really my parents’ choice) but when I was ready to apply to law school having a Bachelor’s degree was a necessity. My mother had always “disapproved” of women lawyers but after I had paid my own way she offered to send my younger brother. (Ha ha…he didn’t get in.)</p>
<p>I don’t know where it is. I think my mother may have it.</p>
<p>“I hardly did anything with my undergraduate B.S. in Elementary Education from a no name college (really my parents’ choice)”</p>
<p>Worked for Lyndon Johnson (Southwest Texas State Teachers College)</p>
<p>BA in economics from a top LAC. Worked a couple of years for an economist, got laid off (best career move ever) and switched to software engineering. Have worked in information technology ever since. Zero regrets on being an economics major or getting a liberal arts degree.</p>
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<p>That was my story also. I saw college as a way to get a certain job. I’ve become much more enlightened with age (have also become more old with age). Didn’t want D to make the same mistake.</p>
<p>So now D has a degree in something that she doesn’t want to make a career and is casting about wondering what she really wants to do for a living. Isn’t progress grand?! (Actually, I do think this is progress–but progress seems to a bumpier road than I imagined it would be.)</p>
<p>I used the degree (BA Visual and Environmental Studies) to get me into grad school (Architecture). The degree probably helped me get a grant from the Nat. Endowment for the Humanities in the year I took off before going to grad school. And the famous name of my undergraduate institution definitely got me a job in Germany even though the material I’d learned for the job was all from grad school.</p>
<p>My undergrad degree was a B.F.A. in Graphic Design. Having graduated during a recession, I was not able to find a job in this field. Since I got my degree from a well-known university (not an art school), I was able to go to law school, and I have worked as a lawyer for over 20 years now. But my graphic design classes (not my law school classes) helped me develop my critical thinking skills that have been the most useful to me as a lawyer.</p>
<p>Undergrad degree in Psychology, strong minor in computer science and math. I had discovered that I did not want a career in psychology around the time I graduated 
so did not look for one there. </p>
<p>Mine was total career by accident. First job offer fell through and recruiter found me one in purchasing so I took it - I had already moved. From there things just progressed. Ended up negotiating government IT contracts and got the masters along the way. Now a consultant and setting my own work.</p>
<p>Be open to possibilities and accept entry level jobs that may not seem to be what you are interested in. Careers evolve and many employers still value someone who can speak and write intelligently, which is what a liberal arts degree should give you. You’re just not going to get the corner office right away. You get in and show what you can do then go on. Entry level jobs are just that. A start.</p>
<p>My diploma is hanging in a frame next to those of my sibs in my parents’ home.</p>
<p>The education is something I benefit from almost every day. I learned to think, to do research, to write, to speak a foreign language. I later went on to an MA and PhD in related areas. When I went off to college my dad told me “We can’t promise you an inheritance but we can make sure you have a good college education.” The certificates were, in a sense, proof positive that we’d achieved what my parents had hoped for.</p>
<p>BTW/ we have the diplomas of our own children. It’s become a family tradition – at least for two generations.</p>
<p>My undergrad degree is Industrial Administration, and I did use what I learned in school while I was employed in management in a manufacturing facility. Over the years my career has taken different paths, but the knowledge gained during my undergrad years has been invaluable.</p>
<p>H is an engineer. He has a MS-Administration. He is pleased to be a real engineer (not an engineering manager). The masters was a bit of a useless endeavor given his disinterest in being the boss, but no education is ever wasted.</p>
<p>As for our diplomas … mine sits in a box in the basement. Not sure where H’s undergrad diploma is. His grad diploma is in a drawer.</p>