Doing Life Better part 2: Continuing Education

 Hello Everyone, 

This is a continuation of my last post on how I am doing things better (in my opinion) to live a little better. One of the things I started doing last year and continue through this year is going back to school to get a higher degree. I think this may be somewhat of a controversial  topic as a degree isn't always necessary to get a better job, make a decent salary, and can't outweigh a persons skills and work experience but I feel like it makes opening doors easier and is something to leverage into higher positions. I have been working professionally for some time now and have been fortunate enough to rise into management and make a decent salary with an associates degree. But throughout my journey despite me being very good at what I do managers have constantly told me. 

• Finish your BS degree.
• Getting a degree will help you go further.
• You should get paid more with a BS degree over an AS.  

Now for me it was hard to immediately jump to a conclusion to take on thousands of dollars in student loans and give up what little free time I had because I tend to work over forty hours a week quite often. Going further in my career would be stepping up to a director but my company does not have any additional people for me to manage to warrant that promotion and a BS degree for me isn't required because of my years of experience. I also asked several times would I automatically get a raise for finishing my degree and no one would give me a clear answer. In my circumstance their is a lot of work and cost for no clear end goal, so why did I go back at at the end of my twenties? 

Their are two answers for this question one is financial security and peace of mind. While I am established at my current job and position what happens if I lost my job or the company went out of business would I be able to make the same money or better somewhere else. What safe guards can I put in place to maintain my current life style in case something happens. Having a bachelors degree which seems to be prerequisite for most jobs nowadays, even for entry level positions which I am not sure I agree with based on the cost of school in the United States. 

The second answer is in case I want to use that degree to change careers into something I don't have tons of experience in. I have always had a passion for computers and IT which also led me to create this blog and as I am approaching the next phase in my life have been contemplating making the jump to IT or software developer. Now it would make more sense to get a BS geared specifically towards information systems but I went with a degree that is middle of the road that I can leverage in either direction in my current career path or potentially in a new one with some certifications to supplement skills but that is for part 3. 

Thanks for taking the time to read!