Piece of Paper

During my first week of institute, one of my fellow students, while introducing himself, decided to go off on a tangent about how he had decided that going to a university wasn’t for him, so he had dropped out of school after two years. He told the class that he believed in self-education and didn’t need a piece of paper to prove that he was intelligent.

Um, excuse me, but I have a diploma and I don’t use it to prove I’m intelligent (I use it to prove that I am hardworking and diligent and can achieve my goals, which are all talents that I used to earn my diploma...). A diploma doesn’t show that you are intelligent, it shows that you are educated (and by his antics, this fellow student showed me that he is neither intelligent or educated).

Perhaps I’m just a little sensitive to this subject since I just recently earned this so-called ‘piece of paper’ but I truly wanted to slap this guy. I’m not putting this guy down because he didn’t get his degree; I’m putting him down because he put down my degree in order to justify his own life. I find the derogatory use of “piece of paper” in place of the word “diploma” highly irritating, if not out-and-out offensive. I worked hard for my degree, and I learned a lot through my courses as well as through self-directed study. My diploma is literally a piece of paper, but it is symbolic of hours of hard work and of the many lessons and principles learned. So, I truly despise when people try to diminish my efforts in achieving my goal of earning my diploma by calling it just a piece of paper, because it truly is so much more than that.

Also, I worked for my degree not to impress other people, but rather to better myself and to grow as a person (impressing other people is just a bonus. And in today’s world a diploma is almost a necessity in getting a decent job).

A college education opens many doors in society, and I highly believe in education so I would encourage everyone to get their education, but I don’t look down on this fellow institute student because he doesn’t have a degree. I don't look down on anyone for not having a degree. Throughout his little tirade I felt that he was protesting too much about formal education, which makes me think that perhaps he is insecure with his decision to drop out of school and is trying to justify it in every public (and probably private) venue where he can find a soapbox to preach from.