Should you go to college? Are you able to go to college? Both of those maybe the wrong questions to ask. Instead, What is college?

I propose college is entry into a club. “The Club of Success”.

I maybe the most anti-college advocate there is, yet I’m currently 10 months away from my master’s degree. Why you ask? Because rather than view college as a need or educational tool college is really your VIP Pass into “The Club of Success”.

First, college shows you have the personal initiative to complete course work that is challenging, not required, and lacks the handholding of primary school. In addition college costs money; implying you think yourself worth investment. This is step one that separates “The Club of Success” from those who do not invest in themselves. As for real learning, I believe you can learn more than college provides simply by reading. The caveat to this is the social skills not learned by reading, more than likely you learned these skills in the public school system.

Second, Dedication. In thinking about either flunkout coursework or Calculus one, two, or three, these classes represent difficult material that for most is not absorbed during class time. These classes require study and practice problems on your own time. Time you will have to find between sleeping, classes, parties, and work. A common office problem is employees who “Don’t have time.” College presumably taught you how to find time. No one has more than twenty-four hours in a day so if others can achieve why can’t you! If others can achieve great success so can you.

If you think you will fail, then congratulations don’t even try! You have already failed, because you are limiting yourself with small thinking. You must believe in yourself.

Third, people in the higher levels of the business world have gone to college themselves. When they are looking to hire someone to fill an important role it is natural to want to do so with someone who has suffered though the same course work they have.

This is why you see job applications that list minimum requirements of a bachelor’s degree. This one requirement separates those who possess a degree of initiative and drive from those who do not.

What about the costs? This is just another excuse, and you need to clear yourself of Excusitis, the Failure Disease as defined in The Magic of Thinking Big by: David J. Schwartz. If you have yet to read this book please do so.

Back to cost, the cost of college appears to be majorly over-hyped. First, sticker price seems to not relate to actual cost. My recommendations are 1) Find a college that allows you to live at home. 2) Work 20-30 hours per week and use this money to avoid student loans. 3) Do take out car loans 4)Drive a beater car or take the bus if you need to.

Want to get a education even cheaper? The ultra-low buck path I highly recommend is to have others pay for your schooling. Personally I had no luck with scholarships and grants. If you can get these go for it. Instead I joined The Army Reserve. They trained me in a MOS (Military Occupational Specialty / Job) and then I returned home where they paid essentially 100% of my college costs. In return once a month I had to report to “drill” and two weeks each summer they send me on vacation, usually to Killeen, TX in the middle of summer. (Note the sarcasm). On the plus side they pay me more money just to show up at these events, as if paying for college alone was not enough.

Later I receive a sabbatical from college for a 545 day deployment, I returned ready more than ever to finish college. By the time I completed school it had been almost eight years from the start of my bachelors. This allowed me to avoid IRR time and thus attend weekends and vacations for all non-deployment years. I promptly graduated and turned down The re-enlistment offer. It was a chapter of my life, and always thank those who serve, but it was not what I wanted to have become my career.

Then I worked three years, and moved companies to find an employer with better hours and supportive of college. It took me those entire three years of interviews to find the correct employer, but I did. You can to. Now I have a better job and an employer who is paying about 90% of my college costs. So roughly my Master’s degree is costing me $300 per semester. I’m worth $600 per year. I could make excuses, one or two classes per semester, it will take too long, blah blah blah… but that is not really the point. The point is I am yet again working towards a goal, a goal I will achieve and another piece of paper. You can either make excuses for action or go achieve. GO ACHIEVE! If you want to do something, I believe you can.

Don’t believe me? At this very same employer are people who have worked their longer than I have and complain of opportunity for advancement. “All the other positions require degrees.” What are those people waiting for? Do they not believe they are worth investment of $600 per year, then why should the company value them at more? Do they not have time? Make time. I too have 24hrs each day.

What is the point of all this? GO TO COLLEGE. Don’t ask why, ask for your ticket into “The Club of Success”.

I believe you can, you must believe as well.

Mr. Big