I was pissed off the other day at professors who assign a ton of work over break but that got me thinking about just how lucky I am. In two years, I'll graduate from one of the best colleges in the country, in one of the most privileged (if not the most) countries in the world. Despite the United States' wealth relative to the rest of the world, only 25% of adults hold a college degree. This percentage is surely lower in almost any other country. On top of the educational advantage I've luckboxed my way into, I have a great family, parents who genuinely care about me and brothers I enjoy being around. How many people can honestly say that?
Think of all those news stories you've heard about abusive parents, about kids who don't receive enough attention in foster care, about kids whose parents aren't directly abusive but are simply apathetic. These stories don't make headlines but they negatively impact their offspring in a seriously detrimental way.
Furthermore, I've won the genetic lottery: I'm smart, capable, and (moderately) motivated. I'm almost certain to find a job that pays well and that I really enjoy. Again, how many people can say this about themselves? While I'm not overly focused on the financial aspects of my future employment, I'll likely end up making 100k+ and be able to provide a comfortable lifestyle for my future wife and kids. Very, very, very few people know in advance that they'll have such a degree of financial security.
Poker is icing on the cake. Who knows what will happen with online poker in the future, but assuming games don't die out and no new legislation is passed, I'll be able to make 80+/hr (hopefully 100-120/hr). I'll have disposable income that most people simply don't have access to and this only adds to my sense of financial security.
So when I'm worrying about getting a B in differential equations or whether a philosophy degree won't look as rigorous as a math one to prospective employers, I like to take a step back and look a the big picture. These little things that I stress and obsess over simply don't matter in the long-run. When compared to others on an international scale, I must be in the top .000001% in terms of educational opportunities, financial well-being, and family life. In short, I'm pretty damn lucky and should really begin to appreciate it.
Thanks for reading,
Yodaddy
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
You should probably lean towards getting a degree in Math. Phil is interesting, classes are usually not super boring and some of the readings, if you have a good selection of courses to chose from, can be pretty interesting. For the most part, I had a pretty good time with my studies, until my last semester. That being said, you just aren't left with tons of opportunities. You have to do extremely well to get into a good grad school. I never applied, but needed like 80s+/good references/good writing samples to get in anywhere halfway decent. I never had that exactly and you might be different. Obviously getting a job with just a PHIL degree will be very tough. If you want to teach PHIL at a College level, there are also very limited jobs so going to grad school for that purpose isn't a good idea either.
ReplyDeleteYou might be forced to choose a more boring degree (I hate any sort of advanced math tbh), but it's certainly more practical and will be more respected than a BAH in PHIL.
Hope that diatribe is helpful.
Privilege= good song my incubus
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOarft2T-l4 have a listen