Ngongoni, Shamiso: Credentialing

 I agree that earning a degree has a social advantage, but my college experience is making it clear that scholars are not driven by the desire for wealth. It is a basic human desire to learn more. Death by Degrees is an article that suggests education is causing a rift between people. It opens by narrating a story of how a Chinese empire fell because of the unjustness of the education system in China at that time. The article says that making degrees more accessible to everyone is one way of devaluing the credential, getting rid of the current education system is a better way.

According to the article the university is now the most important institution in America. Employment, political systems and cultural affairs are regulated by professional guilds that require members to "spend the best years of life paying exorbitant tolls and kissing patrician rings." And from a young age I have been told that education is the key to success. However, a few years ago I saw my country's economic and education system collapse. Being financially comfortable was no longer based on how learned one was. So, the elite left the country and students left the classroom to hustle on street corners. Despite the changes, some students remained in the classrooms and many professionals remained at home practicing their now worthless trades, accumulating and imparting knowledge regardless of its lack of social and economical perks.

  My college experience has taught me that a college education is not all about accreditation. I spend time learning about things that will not necessarily help me to earn my credential. It is possible to do a 2-year plan within a 4-year college degree and continue to professional school, but many have chosen to follow the full course. My college experience is teaching me that education will enrich me in all facets of my life.

 In conclusion, failure to graduate or attend professional school would be a social failure. I believe I would still be able to earn a living in the society without a college degree. There are people who attained wealth and climbed social ladders without education, and there are people who are educated but are neither rich nor socially recognized. However, people have different passions and callings. Doctors' accreditations are not because they studied more or earn more, but it is because they save lives.