There is a lot of debate today as to whether going to college is
\nstill worth the effort and investment … or is now a complete
\nwaste of time and money.<\/p>\n
For an accurate analysis, I believe the experience of college
\nlife as well as participation in extracurricular activities must
\nbe factored in along with the value of the classroom education
\nand degree obtained.<\/p>\n
An article in my alumni magazine Rochester Review (8\/17, p. 13)
\nstates:<\/p>\n
“[For] students who spend 4 years at elite, residential
\nuniversities, what they learn from immersion in activities
\noutside of the classroom can be as important as what happens in
\nit.”<\/p>\n
People who find college archaic, unnecessary, or indulgent may
\nlaugh at this claim.<\/p>\n
But for me, it was absolutely true.<\/p>\n
When I went to the University of Rochester in the 1970s, I got
\ntwo educations for the price of one.<\/p>\n
The first was my BS in chemical engineering.<\/p>\n
This is what I paid tuition for and spent 4 years of study at the
\nUniversity of Rochester (UR) to learn and earn.<\/p>\n
And having a STEM (science, engineering, technology, math) degree
\n— and the knowledge one acquired to get it — was then, as it is
\ntoday, a good investment.<\/p>\n
The second was the education I got as a writer.<\/p>\n
I was both the editor of the monthly college literary magazine
\nand the features editor of the daily college newspaper.<\/p>\n
When I entered the UR, I didn’t even know they had a campus
\nnewspaper, much less a daily one.<\/p>\n
Turns out, the paper was daily. Almost every other school in the
\nnation our size had a weekly paper if they had one at all.<\/p>\n
This worked out for me because, as a result of the paper and the
\nmagazine, I spent about 130 hours a semester writing stories and
\narticles for these publications.<\/p>\n
Mark Ford, Malcom Gladwell, and others say that to become
\ncompetent at a skill, you have to do it for about 1,000 hours.<\/p>\n
Because of my extra-curricular activities, by the time I
\ngraduated UR in May 1979, I had more than a thousand hours of
\nwriting practice.<\/p>\n
And even though I was a chemical engineering major, and not an
\nEnglish major, I had become — well, not a great writer — but a
\ncompetent writer.<\/p>\n
With that skill plus my BS in engineering, I quickly and easily
\nlanded multiple job offers in positions where the companies
\nwanted a writer with a good grasp of science and technology —
\npositions they told me they had real trouble filling.<\/p>\n
So I took one, got hired as a staff marketing and technical
\nwriter at Westinghouse, and my writing career began.<\/p>\n
I also know that getting a STEM degree allowed my youngest son to
\nmake six-figures immediately upon graduating college a couple of
\nyears ago.<\/p>\n
So I understand that not everybody is a fan of or needs a college
\neducation.<\/p>\n
But I wouldn’t universally knock it as it is so fashionable to do
\ntoday.<\/p>\n
One other thing….<\/p>\n
When discussions of this nature pop up on Facebook, somebody
\ninvariably says, “Become an entrepreneur — you will make so much
\nmore money!”<\/p>\n
Maybe. But the reality is that the average small business owner
\nin the U.S. today has a respectable but nowhere near spectacular
\nincome:<\/p>\n