David Jablonski

Don't Wait For Your Degree

The subtitle for my blog is currently “Reminders for myself, mostly”. This is one of those reminders.

It's very easy to wait for an oppertunity to magically appear. To wait for the new year so you can finally start over and become a better human being. To wait until someone talks to you before speaking yourself. Or to wait until you're done with university, degree in hand, which will definitely mean you'll get hired right away and live a happy life full of money, right?

Well, I don't think that's going to happen. First of all, degrees – especially in the creative industries – are worth less and less as graduations pass. You'll also never be done with learning. You will always be a student, at some point you will just stop being eligable for all the discounts.

But most importantly, there is a fundamental misunderstanding about what university is for. Some people think you have to spend time and money so that in the end, someone will pick you. Quit waiting to get picked. As Seth Godin writes, pick yourself.

“The opportunity of a lifetime is to pick yourself. Quit waiting to get picked; quit waiting for someone to give you permission; quit waiting for someone to say you are officially qualified and pick yourself. It doesn’t mean you have to be an entrepreneur or a freelancer, but it does mean you stand up and say, “I have something to say. I know how to do something. I’m doing it. If you want me to do it with you, raise your hand.””

The great thing about university is that it (if it does its job well) gives you freedom to experiment. Freedom to fail. Freedom to do things that you wouldn't normally do because you won't make any money with them.

Allow yourself that freedom. But don't allow yourself the freedom of being lazy and waiting on being picked. Pick yourself. And get going.