So you’re trying to pick a major. What a big decision! Definitely keep up the researching, planning, and stressing, because everyone knows the major you choose will set your course for success (or failure) in life.
Or, alternatively... you could just pick one and roll with it.
Yes, you read that right. While some careers (especially in STEM) do require a specific degree, most of us can actually get into the career we want without a degree that perfectly matches.
Trust me, choosing a major shouldn’t be a cause for tears. Here are 3 reasons why your college major is just one small piece of your education, and why it doesn’t really matter (that much).
Your Major Isn’t the Whole of Your Education
It’s a common misconception that your college experience—and specifically, the major you choose—will determine the kind of education you receive. Thank our culture of Ivy Leagues and standardized tests.
In reality, you are the determining factor of your quality education, for one reason: if you want the best education possible, you have to take full responsibility for your learning. Your college years should be a time dedicated to curiosity, not pre-test memorization that’s destined to be forgotten in a month. Learn as much as you can about a variety of topics, do extra homework or classes that interest you, try things you never thought you would, and ask as many questions as you can!
If you commit to learning beyond your formal education and truly apply yourself, any major you choose will be just fine. Habitual curiosity will take you places that a major never will.
Take, for example, one of the greatest minds of the 20th century, Albert Einstein. His great contributions to science changed the way we view physics today. Now Einstein did receive formal training in mathematics and physics, and he even earned a Ph.D. But his revolutionary accomplishments were due to his personal commitment to discovery, not his major.
At the end of his influential life, Einstein reflected, “The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existence.”
Stay curious! Opt out of a passive approach and take the reins of your own education.
Your Major Isn’t the Only Decision that Matters
What if I told you that your college major doesn’t matter any more than your summer plans or how you spend your Sunday afternoons?
It’s true. Life trajectories aren’t contingent on one big decision. We make decisions every day that can either bring us closer to our goals or stunt our growth. Every time you decide to spend five hours binging The Office, you are also making the decision not to invest those hours in your future (unless you’re planning on going into the paper business).
The things you do on a daily basis—your routines, habits, and hobbies—are just as important as the seemingly bigger life decisions like your major.
Even if your goal is to be a stellar paper salesman, be honest with yourself. You’d be better off reading Forbes, shadowing an experienced salesman, and practicing your pranking skills on your unsuspecting friends than trying to passively glean knowledge from any sitcom character.
Make daily decisions that will bring you closer to your goals, and you’ll find success, no matter what major you choose.
Your Major Doesn’t Confine You to a Specific Career Path
One of the reasons many students stress about their choice of major is due to the mistaken belief that their major will determine their career. While your degree may come with an obvious career path, you don’t have to follow it.
Your future career and success are not at the mercy of the degree you choose. You can be an entrepreneur with a liberal arts degree, a photographer with a B.A. in Sociology, or a life coach with a B.S. in Biology. You aren’t going to ruin your life by making the “wrong” choice.
It’s okay to forge your own way through the woods. If you go off the well-trodden path, oh well! You may just take the long way around to an occupation you never knew you were passionate about. The valuable lessons you learn from an unconventional journey like that may even equip you for more adventures in your future, all unbeknownst to you now.
I’ve experienced this personally. I chose the “wrong” bachelor’s degree. I majored in psychology, because it was interesting to me and, at the time, I knew was I wanted to work with people somehow. Along the way, I realized that I wanted to be a social worker, which requires a master’s degree in Social Work. Had I chosen to major in social work for my undergrad, I could’ve shaved two years off of grad school.
Did I make the “wrong choice”? I don’t think so. If I hadn’t earned my B.S. in psychology, I wouldn’t currently have background knowledge of psychology supporting my current studies. I wouldn’t have gotten an internship in which I was able to explore the intricacies of the human brain. And I never would have crossed paths with the brilliant individuals I get to sit in class with every week. Because, had I earned my bachelor’s degree in social work, I would be in a completely different graduate program.
Friend, stop stressing about what college major you choose. Put down the pros and cons list and stop Googling every major, emphasis, minor, and elective you find. Take a deep breath before you spiral into a vortex of unnecessary worry.
Instead, stay engaged, make a decision, and enjoy the journey… you never know where life is going to take you or what you’ll learn along the way!
What you major in may not change the course of your life, but how you do college might. Don’t settle for “just college.” Use these years to try new experiences and work toward your life goals alongside a thriving community of dedicated students just like you. Learn how Accelerated Pathways will help you say “no” to debt and make the world your campus.
Growing up, my family lived by the standard “no desserts before dinner” rule that every child under 15 knows all too well.
Now that I’m 23 and living on my own, when I decide to skip the veggies and sink my teeth into a deliciously moist bite of double chocolate cake with fudge frosting, should I be rebuked? Should my mother fly to Texas from her cozy Florida home and put me in Time Out?
Of course not, and for one simple reason: being 23 and living exactly 984 miles away from my parents is a pretty good indicator that I’m not a child anymore.
But what does that mean for all the childhood rules I grew up with?
Why Do We Have Rules?
Life is a series of choices. Facing adulthood means facing a lot of deep questions that you don’t know how to answer. For the first time, it’s actually up to you to answer them. Mom and Dad aren’t here to take away your cake.
That’s why we have rules.
Traditions and rules are a necessary part of a productive life. Having solid routines in place can help free a lot of brain space when deciding what’s for lunch or what time you should get up in the morning.
And they’re not just for simple routines, either. Society even gives us a general “life template” to follow: go to school, go to college, graduate, get a job, get married, have kids, repeat.
This is often what people refer to as “the status quo.” And let me be clear: there is nothing wrong with following it.
But following a rule just because it’s there is not only silly, it’s downright absurd.
Each rule is made for a reason. Each is crafted to fit a specific situation. That means not every rule will apply to every situation, and not every rule will apply to you. In fact, many rules contradict each other!
Things change. Times change. People change. You change. And if your rules don’t change too, you run the risk of holding yourself back from fulfilling your unique purpose.
How to Break the Rules (Wisely)
So what exactly am I proposing? Throwing everything out and making up your own rules as you go along?
I guess that’s one way to do it, but it doesn’t seem much healthier than blindly following rules without question. You want to forge your own path, not get lost in the woods.
What I’m actually suggesting is this:
As you grow and change, as you’re faced with hard choices and possible new paths to walk, carefully revisit the old rules you feel are “holding you back.” Examine them, but don’t throw them out just yet.
Instead, use wisdom and prudence to carefully craft a new, revised set of rules that will help you reach your goal and become the person you want to be.
Here’s how:
1. Understand Why a Rule Exists
As I mentioned before, rules are created for a reason. And no, that reason usually isn’t “wanting to ruin your fun.”
Most rules are put in place either to:
Protect you from something harmful
Push you toward something good
It’s likely that, as you grow and mature, specific rules themselves will no longer apply. Why? Because you have the wisdom and resources to either avoid a particular harm or partake in a particular good without needing a reminder.
Adults are allowed to eat dessert first.
But before you do, it’s wise to understand exactly what you’re giving up (or gaining) in the process. The dessert rule was set for a reason. In this case, to protect you from something that could hurt you.
Your parents didn’t want you losing your appetite, refusing to eat nutritious food, and becoming malnourished.
That’s easy deduction.
However, we can still dig a little further. Rules are often much more complex than we think, and they serve many different purposes at once. There are more benefits to giving dessert its proper place.
Prioritizing healthy food will improve your self image. It will also make your dessert taste better. And the small act of delaying gratification can build character and help you become a generally balanced and generous person.
There’s a surprising amount of depth and character development to be found in such a simple rule! And it’s these motivations that comprise the spirit of the rule.
What fundamental parts of your character is the rule shaping?
2. Examine your needs
Now that you understand the motivations behind the rules you’re questioning, ask yourself: what do you want or need?
It’s tempting to throw rules out because they’re inconvenient, or don’t give you what you want now. Beware of this tendency—it lurks within all of us. If you’re taking on the responsibility of writing your own rule book, you’re also taking on the responsibility to do so… well… responsibly.
You may have a very good reason to nix the no-cake-before-dinner rule.
“I’ve realized I have an unhealthy fascination with diet strictness. My perspective on food has taken the enjoyment out of eating, and limiting my food choices is encouraging me to under eat. I need to feel free to eat anything I want for a while.”
That’s a good reason for change!
“I’m an adult, gosh darn it. I can do what I want, and what I want to do is eat cake.”
That’s an excuse.
Take time to understand what you want and need for your life. Evaluate which of your desires are legitimate and which are excuses.
3. Create new rules
Now put it all together.
Creating new rules haphazardly is a surefire way to wind up unhealthy and unproductive. You have no basis to know whether that rule will actually help you achieve your goals!
Don’t just throw out your old rules. Update them. The best way to create rules that work for you is to reconcile the wisdom of the past with your desires for the future.
For example, I find that when I eat my chocolate cake is irrelevant. But I know myself and my tendency to go back for just another bite (or ten). So I made my new rule: I am allowed to eat my cake before dinner if I want, but I’ve limited myself to eating only one “treat” per day.
This keeps me generally healthy (following the spirit of the original rule) while allowing me the freedom I desire to eat cake before dinner on a bad day.
How can you create something that solves your needs without throwing out the wisdom of the rule in the first place? Get creative!
This may mean admitting an old rule really is the best way to go and keeping it in your life. It may look like chucking the old rule out entirely. Or it may mean updating an old rule in a way that better serves your personality and your life.
Knowing why you’re following a tradition, trend, or rule is important. Not only does this line of thinking challenge you to truly understand your values and goals, but it will also give you an extra dose of confidence when the naysayers inevitably call you out.
You didn’t make your choice arbitrarily. You’re not blindly following in someone else’s footsteps.
You’re using their footsteps as a guide to help you forge your own path—one you believe in and that will help you reach your fullest potential.
I used to consider myself a reader. Throughout my childhood, if I wasn’t sleeping, I was reading. Think I’m exaggerating? I’m not. I taught myself to walk, brush my teeth, make breakfast, do the dishes… all with my nose in a book.
As I became increasingly busy, my reading addiction began to diminish. College, a full-time job, volunteering, and a social life later… and I suddenly realized I couldn’t remember the last time I read a book from cover to cover.
So trust me, I understand the struggle. I often feel like there’s just not enough time in a day to read.
But there are many reasons we should prioritize reading, besides the fact that it’s just plain fun. So this summer, I decided it was about time to introduce reading into my life once again. This is how I did it (and how you can do it too!)
Ease Into It
I have an embarrassing confession: sometimes I struggle to read even a blog post thoroughly. If you’ve gotten this far, congratulations! You’re already a better reader than me!
With iMessage, Instagram, Snapchat, and every other communication service promising immediate social connection, it’s no surprise we struggle to incorporate reading into our daily lives. We’ve grown used to consistently updating online platforms, and it’s hard to consume a single piece of writing without getting distracted.
Recognizing my tendency to skim over blocks of text showed me I really needed to start small. So my first baby step toward reading more was to intentionally read the articles that came across my social media feed—not just skim them.
My challenge to you: read at least three blog, magazine, or newspaper articles every day. And don’t skim over them… actually read them! What point is the writer trying to make? Do you agree? Why or why not? Asking yourself questions about the content you’re consuming will help you to actually learn from and enjoy it.
Reintroduce Books
Articles are a great place to start, but if you want to reap the full benefits of reading (like living longer and increasing your emotional intelligence), you have to read books, too. After creating the habit of reading articles every day, you may find it easier to pick up a book.
But with endless options to choose from, what book should you start with?
I have two types of books on my reading list. Books I want to read and books I ought to read. The books I want to delve into tend to be lighter reads—YA novels or 200-page memoirs. I’ve found it much easier to get into these books than it is to pick up War and Peace. Though I truly desire to read more dense volumes, I don’t want to be too ambitious with my choices at this point.
Someday I’ll finish all of the classics I’ve skipped… but that day is not today. And that’s okay! Maybe tomorrow your book choice will be a bit more scholarly, but for now, let’s simply focus on reading more. So you want to squeeze more reading into your life? Pick up a book. Any book. The more you read, the easier it gets!
Give Yourself Grace
So imagine this: you started reading more articles. You’ve finished a fun book or two. Maybe you’ve even tackled a challenging book you know you should’ve read in high school (and hopefully enjoyed it). Things are going well! You’re actually squeezing more reading into your daily life!
And then… two weeks go by and you haven’t read a single paragraph.
That’s okay.
Reading more is just like working toward any other long-term goal—there will be peaks and valleys along the road, but the journey is worth it!
Forgive yourself for not changing immediately. Creating a habit takes time. But once that habit is formed, reading daily will be a natural and enjoyable part of your life.
So when you get stuck without the motivation to finish a book, don’t quit reading altogether. Just move on. Find something that fits your current interests and read that instead! Reading shouldn’t be stressful. If it is, just change it up until you enjoy it again!
This summer, I’ve used this method to successfully read a handful of books and countless articles. Some days I read thousands of words, while other times I barely find the time to read a hundred. But overall, I am happy with my progress.
Should you choose to prioritize reading, know that it’s not going to be easy. You might not be as consistent as you’d like to be, but “reading more” is a beneficial and admirable goal; just make sure you remember why you wanted to do it in the first place. It’s worth it!
I’ve been an accidental leader for most of my life. Perhaps this is why once I decided to return to college for my undergraduate degree, Organizational Leadership caught my eye. This seemed like a degree that would help me be more intentional about the next phase of my future.
What You’ll Learn in an Organizational Leadership Degree
Organizational leadership prepares students for work in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. It examines theories of leadership, management, organizational behavior, and change. It also lays the groundwork for managing complexity in domestic and international environments. This may seem abstract, but I’ve grasped practical skills, too.
For example, one of the most important capabilities of leaders is self-management and continuous personal growth. Especially in light of emerging business and financial scandals in the last decades, leaders need strong, ethical spines; and this requires periodic, honest self-examination and improvement.
Thriving organizations grow and adapt. Leaders must be on the leading edge of this change. I’ve studied this topic from a leadership perspective, a management perspective, an organizational perspective, and an individual point-of-view in my organizational leadership degree. I’ve learned about managing human and intellectual capital, organizing, and leading teams and planning projects. I’ve enjoyed and found immediate application for everything I’ve learned, but there were a few things that surprised me:
How Organizations Level-Up
One of the things this degree covers is the structural requirements for scaling an organization.
As organizations grow, they tend toward hierarchical management structures in order to remain efficient and consistent in their products and services. However, there’s a threshold for this kind of structure, a point at which the structure will no longer support or sustain growth (typically when an organization becomes global). When this happens, leadership is decentralized. In other words, power is no longer only at the top of the organization; leadership is redistributed throughout the organization. When this happens, the average employee is charged with a substantial amount of responsibility and trust. So how can leaders empower others while being confident that individual goals and organizational goals will be aligned?
Coursework in organizational leadership explores the answers to this question and many others.
Good Leaders Have Self-Management Routines
As mentioned previously, leaders must pursue continuous personal and character growth. This is part of a portfolio of self-care. Some of the leaders in my life have been prone to burnout, exhaustion, and illness in the name of “serving the cause.” However, effective leaders practice healthy personal care: spiritual, relational, physical, emotional, etc.
This should have been self-evident to me, but for some reason, I had never heard this explained by any of the great leaders in my life. After experiencing some burnout and illness myself due to an imbalance of work and rest, I organically began to recognize when I needed to take some time to recharge. Now, though, I do this much more intentionally (and without guilt). I also build times into my days, weeks, months, and year to evaluate personal growth and develop strategies for improvement.
What Can You Do with an Organizational Leadership Degree?
This is a management degree, and depending on which leadership electives you choose, it can prepare you to work in businesses, government, and philanthropic organizations. It is particularly useful for human resources management, as an organizational change management consultant, training and development manager/consultant, nonprofit manager, and in public management.
No matter the target for employment, if you’re considering a degree in Organizational Leadership, use the opportunity to immerse yourself in the learning by applying what you learn to organizations in which you’re already involved. Use the knowledge and skills you learn along the way to add value in your volunteering, in your relationships, and even your current job.
I’ve heard from managers and nonprofit leaders that their organizations suffer from a leadership vacuum. Mostly, I think, because people are more concerned with “doing things right” instead of asking “What’s the right thing to do here, and how can I participate?” Leadership in its simplest form is beneficial, proactive influence. Even if you’re an entry-level employee at a coffee shop, movie theater, or fast casual restaurant, you can take the initiative and show leadership. In doing so, you’ll add value to the organizations and the lives around you.
This is the moment you’ve been working toward for the past four years. As you walk across the stage and see your favorite professor smiling at you, you feel a sense of pride and accomplishment. Then you’re shaking hands, posing for pictures, and turning your tassel.
Congratulations! You’ve just earned your bachelor’s degree. You’re a college graduate.
As you return to your seat to watch your fellow graduates cross that same stage, you can’t help but look forward to what the future might bring. After all, now that you have your degree, so many opportunities have been opened up to you.
Because you’ve invested your time at college wisely, you’ve developed the skills and connections needed to launch into your career. And with that career will come a home, a new lifestyle, maybe a family. The things you dream about are there, waiting for you to take them, and now that you’re done with school, you’re free to do so.
There’s just one small problem.
The only way you could pay for college was by taking out a loan. And like 68% of other college students nationwide, that means you just graduated from college with debt—around $30,000 of it. On top of that, your loan has the average interest rate paid by most students (5.8%), which means you’ll be paying at least an additional $9,600 just to cover interest over the next 10 years.
That doesn’t sound too bad though. You just need to get started in your career, and you’ll be able to pay that loan off in a few years. It certainly doesn’t worry you enough to ruin your day or completely overshadow the hope you have for the future. You’re a college graduate! You’re going to be fine. Life’s going to be good.
Like most students, you have a 10-year loan with “manageable” monthly payments. And you’re confident that you’ll pay it back on time. Maybe even sooner! Right?
Year One—Do You Really Have a Head Start?
Life has been something of a whirlwind since graduation day, and you’ve done well for yourself despite the chaos of starting out in life! You’ve landed an awesome job that will soon lead to your dream career. It doesn’t pay a ton of money, but you expected that as a recent college grad. You have to start somewhere, right?
With your entry-level salary, you’re able to afford a decent apartment and cover your bills. All in all, you’re managing. And even if you get a little anxious when checking your bank account, life’s still exciting.
What it’s like to be shackled to student loan debt just after graduation.
The gross average starting salary for recent college graduates is around $48,000. That sounds pretty good, doesn’t it? If you take care of your money, you could live well enough on that.
After taxes, your $48,000 per year becomes somewhere between $36,000 and $39,000 (or about $3,000 per month). The apartment you’re renting takes about 1/3 of that (assuming you don’t live near either coast). Other mandatory expenses like utilities, transportation, healthcare, and food take up another third. And the average monthly student loan payment is around $400.
If you’re lucky, by the end of the month you have about 10% of your net income left over to use however you like.
You’ve had to make sacrifices to make ends meet. You can’t go out to dinner or to a movie very often. Weekend trips to the mall are rare. Spending even $20 a week to do something fun might stretch your budget dangerously thin. Your life, for the time being, is your work. But that’s okay because it’ll only be for a year or so until you get a little more experience and maybe a raise or two.
Life’s hard. It’s hard for everyone though. And even though you’re barely keeping up for the time being, at least you have a head start.
Year Five—Imagine Being Buried Alive
You don’t know if life got easier or you just got better at managing it. Probably a little of both. Over the five years since graduation day, you’ve settled into your job and found your rhythm. You’re advancing in your career, making a name for yourself, and earning the recognition of your superiors. The pay raises and promotion were tremendous blessings, giving your budget room to breathe every month. And that’s not all! You’ve recently had a little time to focus on something other than work: you have a family to take care of now.
For the first time since graduation day, you’re beginning to feel like you’re really moving forward in life. However, the advances you’ve made come with more responsibility. And responsibility is expensive.
Sorry, you haven’t really made a dent in your debt yet.
Interest on student loans is a special kind of monster. Assuming you didn’t qualify for a subsidized loan, the interest on the initial balance of your loan started to accrue the day the loan was disbursed. So even though you don’t normally have to begin paying back a loan until after graduation, your student loan debt is still going to grow while you’re in school.
It’s also important to note that your student loan payments go toward the interest first. So if your interest owed is greater than your monthly payment, that money never touches the initial balance, and interest continues to compound. And here’s the kicker: interest on student loans isn’t compounded yearly or even monthly. It’s compounded and charged daily based on the outstanding balance of the loan (including interest), not the principal balance.
So when your interest rate of 5.8% was applied to the $30,000 you owed at graduation, your new balance the day after graduation became $30,004.80. The day after that, it was $30,009.60.
This process of charging interest on your new total balance has repeated every day (with the interest you owe growing bigger and bigger) since the day you took out the loan. This is how you were buried alive so quickly. Even though you’ve faithfully made minimum loan payments every month, the interest on your loan has been compounding since the start of college. At this point, you’ve barely started paying on the principal of the loan, if you’ve touched it at all.
All that to say, if you want to pay off your student loan, you need to be paying more than the minimum required amount. But therein lies the problem.
As you advance in life, you generally earn a higher gross income. But with more mouths to feed, higher utilities, more insurance, and the other expenses that come with living a normal life, you don’t always see significant changes to your net earnings. You’re struggling to allocate as much money as you should to paying down your student loans.
You’re still happy. Life is good and every day has its blessings. But that doesn’t stop you from worrying what the future might hold if you don’t start getting a handle on your debt—and soon.
Year Ten—The Year You Were Supposed to Pay Off Your Student Loan Debt
You’ve come a long way since graduation day.
Your family has grown. So much so that you had to buy a bigger house, making your mortgage significantly more expensive. But perhaps for the first time in your life, you don’t feel like you’re playing catch-up with your finances. You’re thoroughly embedded in your career now. Despite your family and expenses growing, you’re finally earning enough to get ahead. So, after 10 years of making payments on your student loan, it’s finally time to start actually paying it off.
There’s a steeper cost to your student loans than simple debt.
Anxiety, like a ball of lead sitting in your stomach, has been growing inside you over the past ten years. The longer you go without making real progress paying off your college debt, the worse it gets. The constant stress has gotten so bad that you struggle to fall asleep at night—and when you do fall asleep, it’s restless. It’s normal for you to wake up multiple times a night. Losing sleep, though, is only the start of your troubles.
Your anxiety isn’t just in your head. It’s manifested some pretty severe physical symptoms as well. You’re always tired, but especially so at work and during stressful situations. As a result it’s harder for you to focus at work and your productivity is suffering. You get constant, inexplicable headaches throughout the day. Your joints begin to ache, and there’s a deep tiredness in your muscles because your body is always tensed up. You don’t have much of an appetite, which is okay because you usually have an upset stomach anyway. And to top it all off, in this constant state of anxiety—with an always elevated heart rate and a body that’s always in fight or flight mode—it’s nearly impossible for you to relax.
In short, you’re exhausted, drained, and terrified that you’ll be buried under debt for good.
If it’s any comfort, you’re not alone in this: 65% to 67% of individuals with student loan debt report having some or all of these symptoms. But now that you’re finally able to begin paying down your debt, you’ll just need to hang in there a little while longer. You can deal with the stress for a year or two more. That’s all it should take to get debt free, right?
21 Years After Graduation
The last 11 years went by in a blur. So much life happened in that time. You tried to experience as much of it as you could, but you had to miss quite a bit. You went through those years with your nose to the grindstone, working hard every month to pay a little bit extra toward your college debt. You’re exhausted. But you also have some of your old, hopeful energy back because this is the last year that you’ll ever have to make payments on your student loan.
That’s how long it actually takes to pay off student loans.
The average bachelor’s degree will put a student around $30,000 in debt. Most students believe they’ll be able to pay that off by the time they’re 33. In reality, though, they generally aren’t able to pay it back until they’re at least 41.
These students spend a majority of their early life in debt that is next to impossible to get discharged, making mandatory monthly payments regardless of their income (for the average college grad, this is true even if they’re on an income-based payment plan). And if they can’t make the minimum payments on their standard 10-year plan, their debt only grows.
After 21 years, the average loan for a bachelor’s degree costs somewhere between $39,000 and $42,000 depending on how soon the student can get control of their finances.
So, did going into debt for your degree really give you a head start in life? Was the education you got in college valuable enough to spend 21 years paying for it?
A Better Life
Not long after you finally paid off your student loan debt, it’s time to send your kid to college. You see a lot of yourself in them. They’re excited and hopeful for their future, and you want to give them the best chance they can possibly have at living an extraordinary life.
Given that, what advice would you give them about student loans? Do you think that going into debt for college will give them a better life? Or is there a better way to do college?
Yes, actually. There is a better way.
Instead of going into debt for college, why not make college more affordable? If you could find a way to either reduce the cost of—or completely eliminate—the most expensive parts of college, but still get the high-quality education you need, you’d never have to take out a loan in the first place.
Say hello to Accelerated Pathways, a flexible online college program which enables you to earn a debt-free degree from any school with the guidance of a professional academic coach and the support of a thriving student community.
In other words, we make the college experience so affordable that you can realistically pay for your degree out of pocket. Because Accelerated Pathways isn’t your typical college program, our students have the freedom to pursue college, life, and a career (or whatever else they’re passionate about) at the same time. And since a year of Accelerated Pathways only costs about $6,750, or about 36% of what you would pay at a traditional university, is it any wonder that most of our students are able to graduate debt free? Accelerated Pathways enables you to earn college credit, have a real income, build a resumé, and avoid student loans entirely. That’s what gives Accelerated Pathways students a chance at a real head start in life—a better life.
This wasn’t an admonishment to myself. It was a truth I realized every time I reviewed everything I was trying to accomplish in the span of a 24-hour day. It was a statement of fact, brought about by the reality that I was attempting to work full time while studying 20-25 hours a week. Yup, I was crazy.
Trying to earn your college degree while working full time is no picnic. Yeah, I had it easier than a lot of people because I was using Accelerated Pathways, which meant I could fit school around my work schedule. But since I was living alone and supporting myself, I still had to make choices like, “do I read this chapter in my textbook or go grocery shopping so I have something to eat?”
Decisions, decisions.
Over the course of 18 months, I completed the final 59 college credits of my degree while keeping up a full-time work schedule (and eating regular meals). It was exhausting, and I had little-to-no social life. But because I’d already been working on my degree for six and a half years, I was super motivated to graduate as quickly as possible.
Despite the insanity that was my life for those 18 months, I survived with remarkably few mental breakdowns. So if you find yourself in a similar situation, trying to balance school and work and wondering how you’re going to survive, I know exactly how you feel. Here’s how I got to graduation with my sanity (mostly) intact.
10 Tips for Surviving College While Working Full Time
1. Schedule, Schedule, Schedule
You’re trying to juggle a full-time work schedule and a full-time course load. That means if you want to have any amount of sanity in your life, you must schedule everything out—work, study time, study breaks, course assignments, etc.—then you have to stick to it.
I’m not going to lie, this is hard. But you’ll thank yourself in the end when you finish your courses on time without any late assignments.
2. But be Flexible, Because $&%# Happens
However, no matter how well you schedule your life, something unavoidable will come up. Your car will need new brakes (speaking from experience here), you’ll have an unexpected work trip, your coworker will give you the flu when you expressly asked them not to… rude.
So when life throws a wrench into your best-laid plans, be flexible. Let yourself off the hook for events that are out of your control, because trust me, you don’t want to waste precious energy freaking out about something you can’t change.
3. Make Sacrifices (It’s Only Temporary)
Okay, now don’t hit me, but if your roommates (or friends or coworkers) invite you to dinner Friday night, you need to be ready to say no. It’s pretty depressing watching friends have a great time while you’re chained to your desk with a textbook shackled to your wrist. But remember that this is temporary. You won’t always have to say no because someday you will finish your degree. But you’re not there yet.
I had to bow out of a lot of social dinners, coffee-shop crawls, and parties, which was really hard because I’m an extrovert. But I knew attending those events would throw off my carefully-planned schedule, creating more stress in my already stressful life. No thank you.
4. But Also Take a Break
Breaks are important. They give your brain a chance to reset and make it easier to focus when you hit the books again. However, not all breaks are created equal. Scrolling through Instagram won’t set you up for success in your next study block. But getting up, walking away from your desk, and doing something totally different will.
Try a couple different study/break routines to find what works for you. Maybe you’re a Pomodoro Technique person, or you like to study for several hours straight then take a longer break. Find what works for you, then stick to it. Soon enough, it’ll become second nature.
(My personal favorite technique was to study for 50 minutes and then take a 10-minute break. I used the 30/30 app to schedule my study and break blocks for the day and then let it run. It kept me on track and ensured I used my time wisely.)
5. Find Some Cheerleaders
While you may have an iron-clad internal motivation pushing you through your degree, having some cheerleaders in your corner can get you through those really tough patches when you’re feeling discouraged or tempted to ignore your schedule.
I had a work friend who would check in with me and cheered me on. My family were also great cheerleaders, letting me vent, proofreading papers, and giving me a loving push when I was lagging.
Since I did the Accelerated Pathways program, I also had a Success Coach. She helped me stay on track, schedule classes, and adjust my schedule when the aforementioned $&%# happened.
6. But Treat Yo’ Self Too
Find ways to celebrate accomplishments as small as reading a chapter in a textbook or finishing a course. Don’t make it complicated, just do something that helps you unwind and relax, and tell yourself “good job.”
Celebrating the wins—big and little—will help you keep pushing forward. Not only will you feel your hard work is appreciated, but you can also look forward to that next episode of Stranger Things.
7. Change It Up
I love my routines, but during the insanity of working-while-studying, I discovered that changing things up every once in a while actually helped me focus. Spend a few hours on a Saturday morning at a local coffee shop instead of in your apartment, or head to the library for a quick hour-long study session during your lunch break. Read textbooks or write your papers from a cozy chair instead of your desk to break up the monotony. Whatever works, right?
8. But Be Consistent About Your Health
I noticed I studied better when I fed my body (i.e. my brain) well and worked out a couple times a week. I had more mental clarity and generally felt better. It’s ok, you can yell “are you crazy, lady?!” I can take it. Finding time to make healthy meals and snacks on top of working and studying does seem impossible. But remember those study breaks I was talking about earlier? Those are great for making easy snacks, tossing a 3-ingredient meal into the slow cooker, doing an online yoga video, or making a quick grocery run.
9. Embrace the Tired
Even if you do your very best to sleep, eat well, and take good breaks, you will be tired. My mom gave me one of the best pieces of advice when I was exhausted and trying to survive my hectic schedule. Embrace the tired. Understand that you’re just going to be tired for the next few months. And maybe have an extra cup of tea. Tea always helps.
When you finish school, you will catch up! It took me a couple months of Netflix to feel like a fully-functioning human again, but I got there. And you will too. That being said, don’t push it. Do your best to get at least 7-9 hours of sleep. Yeah, it will cut into your late-night study time, but honestly, it really will help you keep up the crazy pace you set for yourself.
10. But Still Take a Day Off Now and Then
Sometimes you just need a break. And I’m not talking about a 15-minute study break here, but a longer, several-hours-to-GASP-a-full-day break. This was really hard for me, because, as I said, I’m an overachiever and don’t like to break when I’m on a roll. But even I had to take a day off between courses sometimes. It felt really weird, like my body was instinctively thinking, “Why aren’t we studying? We should be studying!” But without fail, those breaks always helped me start my next course feeling rejuvenated and ready to crush it.
One Last Thing—Don't Forget How Awesome You Are.
Studying while working full time is not easy, and you’re amazing for doing it! When you start feeling overwhelmed by what you have to accomplish before you graduate, take a minute and think about everything you’ve already accomplished.
Think about the skills and knowledge you now have from balancing so much at one time. Think about how you’re graduating without debt and may even have some savings, since you didn’t have to set work aside to finish school. Remind yourself how it will TOTALLY be worth it. You got this. Now go conquer the world!
Working and studying full time is no easy feat. Give yourself a leg up by choosing a college program that’s affordable and can fit into your already hectic schedule. If you want the flexibility to earn your bachelor’s degree while furthering your career, click here to learn more about how Accelerated Pathways can help!
We get it—growing up is expensive. Groceries, gas, college classes… it all adds up. And you don’t want to barely get by, you want to thrive! Moving out of your parent’s house, getting a car that doesn’t break down every other week, and being able to afford a night out with friends are all admirable goals. Goals that require a reasonably-sized paycheck.
But you also want to work in a field that interests you. From a quick Google search, you’ll find that a majority of the higher paying jobs are STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math), and require degrees in those respective fields. That’s great… for people who enjoy science, technology, engineering, and math. But what about the rest of us? Is there any hope for us?
Absolutely!
Being uninterested in STEM doesn’t mean you’re doomed to be a starving artist. Despite common belief, you can work in the arts, education, or social sciences and earn an above-average salary.
So if you’re struggling to make a degree decision that will satisfy your interests and your financial needs, here’s a list of the 16 highest paying degrees from each general field, according to PayScale.
Keep in mind, this list is nowhere near extensive, and there are many more high-paying degrees out there. No matter what your interests are, there are opportunities to thrive! So even if you aren’t a STEM genius, get out there and be your lovely self—people need what you can offer (and will pay you for whatever that is).
What are you waiting for? Go ahead and do your own research on the degrees that interest you. Determine your passions, calculate your degree’s return on investment, and get to work!
Before you know it, you’ll be working in a field that fuels your passions—without going broke.
Of course, if you’re serious about setting up a secure financial future post-graduation, you need to think about more than your degree. The average graduate pays $385 towards student loans every month. What if you could put that money toward your car, a wedding, or a house instead of throwing it to the debt monsters?
For as long as I can remember, I have known what I want to be when I “grow up.” My passion has always been to communicate. I love to write—anything from a simple children’s story to a poem with profound meaning to practical nonfiction pieces. I love to speak and dream about one day traveling and speaking at conferences. I have also always had a heart for mission work, and I desire that my passions be utilized within ministry.
So when it came time to decide about college, it seemed quite logical to continue my education by pursuing a communications degree. While this decision seemed logical, it wasn’t entirely desirable.
See, I have always been a hands-on learner. While I have done well in the classroom, I prefer to learn through real-life experience. That’s why continuing education in the classroom never fully appealed to me. But coming out of high school, I wasn’t aware of any opportunities to obtain the hands-on experience I desired. On top of that, I had won a full-tuition scholarship to the top school I was considering. So, hesitantly, I chose college.
But, my questions and doubts about college carried on through my freshman year.
Can college give me the type of experiential learning that I desire?
Could there be another way?
Then, one night, I was watching a YouTube video about a couple who live in a van, and they mentioned that they both did college “differently.” Perhaps, this was my answer! Perhaps, there was another way! I remember reading about Accelerated Pathways and feeling as though I had found a diamond in the rough. I could create a plan that would allow me to take college courses at my own pace, with the world as my campus, and without going into debt!
“But, wait,” I thought.
“I already have a full-tuition scholarship. Is it really worth it to give that up and start paying for a different form of education?”
This question led me to analyze the situation further. Maybe I couldn’t use Accelerated Pathways to its fullest. But it could still help me. By taking a couple classes over the summer through Accelerated Pathways, I would be able to graduate early and still keep my scholarship. So, I did just that.
I went back to college my second year knowing that by the end of the semester I would have enough credits to be a standing junior. My timeline for graduation was set. My classes were all lined up. I was ahead of the game, yet I still didn’t feel settled. Part of me still desired to learn by actively using my giftings, not just taking classes. And while I was advancing through education more quickly now, I still questioned if there could be a different way to learn—outside of the classroom setting. The same issue remained. Perhaps, the solution was not in how quickly I learned but how I learned.
As I continued to wrestle with these questions, I waited for the right opportunity. I opened my mind fully to the possibility that staying at school might not be the best choice for me right now. I started talking to a ministry back home that I had been involved with for two years. Through these conversations, the opportunity to step into full-time ministry with them opened. This would allow me to practice all my giftings and engage with my passions on a daily basis. I would have the opportunity to write, to speak, to perform spoken word poetry, and to travel.
Taking hold of this opportunity would require me to step out of school. Stepping out of school also meant giving up my scholarship. It also meant not earning my degree. So, I had a big decision to make.
I started to look at the number of credits I had acquired through school and through Accelerated Pathways and found that I did have enough credits to graduate in December. I would just be graduating with an associate degree instead of my intended bachelor’s.
This option was only possible because of the classes I had taken through Accelerated Pathways over the summer. Rather than just pulling out of school, I would be able to finish my degree, even if it wasn’t the one I originally signed up for. Being able to graduate with an associate would make it easier for me to go back to school in the future. It gave me peace of mind. I had closure, knowing that I didn’t waste my time or resources. I could step confidently into the next chapter of my life.
Two paths had been set before me. Neither was necessarily right or wrong. At the end of the day, I had to decide which way I learn best. While stepping away from the “four-year college experience” may seem like a big risk, and letting go of a large scholarship seems even riskier, the opportunity to gain hands-on experience and learn directly in the field that I want to continue in is something I could not pass down.
While I didn’t use Accelerated Pathways to get a bachelor’s degree (yet 😉), it has helped me walk the path I feel called to right now. It has opened up the chance to learn in a way that fits me, to trade my scholarship and the comfort of doing things the “normal” way for life experience and a life that is truly free.
For most high school seniors, the months leading up to graduation aren’t just about senior pranks, ditch days, and Grad Nites. These days are also filled with essay writing, scholarship applications, school visits, talks with counselors, and orientations. It’s a process that about 69% of high school seniors go through every year in order to prepare for the next big stage in life—going to college.
After all, you’re supposed to go to college after high school, right? That’s what most of us grow up being told. The idea of high school being a necessary stepping stone to college, and college being a necessary stepping stone to a worthwhile career has been ingrained in our American culture for decades.
Everyone knows that going to college is simply the best way to set yourself up for success down the road.
Or is it?
Why college?
College, as we typically understand it, is extremely useful. It’s without a doubt among the most effective ways to earn an education—but maybe not for everyone.
Of the high school graduates that go to college, 45% will drop out before earning their degree. Why? Because college is hard, and it takes a particular type of person with a particular type of mindset and a particular purpose to get the most out of it.
College is a place designed for learning. Not just memorizing information in textbooks, but also a deeper type of learning. College tends to be the most difficult academic, personal, and social challenge ever faced by incoming freshmen. And as with all challenges, students either must grow in order to overcome it or fail to grow and drop out.
On top of what they learn in class, college students are challenged to think critically, communicate clearly, solve complex problems, ask the right questions and find their own answers. College gives you the opportunity to explore your interests in an environment focused on growth. It encourages you to discover what you believe, question what you know, and define who you want to be when it’s time to face the real world.
Yes, academics are what you will (and should) spend most of your time on at college. You should learn as much from your professors and textbooks as you can. But the other lessons—the ones that result in you becoming a stronger, more grounded, more confident person—are equally important.
This growth is one of the primary benefits of college
### AND get a better job down the road
This is, of course, the other major benefit of going to college. College graduates, on average, make more money than those who don’t earn a degree. And although college doesn’t necessarily train you to do a specific job the way a trade school might, it can definitely help prepare you for success in your future career.
The most obvious way that college prepares you for a career is through education. An engineer needs to have an advanced understanding of mathematics. A physicist needs to be an expert in physics; a doctor, medicine; a journalist, journalism. STEM programs are an excellent example of this: these programs prepare students to use a combination of knowledge and creativity to solve difficult problems in highly technical fields. Many modern careers require a specialized education for even a basic starting position. And in many cases, that education would be hard to get without going to college.
The real money maker for most graduates, though, are the connections. Many colleges have incubator programs exclusively to help their student entrepreneurs be successful in business. Or grants available to fund student research. Many colleges have alumni networks to aid in the job search—graduating from the same college as a company’s CEO can be a major foot in the door.
And then there are the students themselves. Colleges are full of ambitious visionaries eager to start the next great world-changing business. With the number of opportunities and connections available to college students, of course college graduates tend to have higher salaries.
Without a doubt, a college education has its benefits. Earning a degree could set you up for personal and financial success down the road. But not everybody needs to go to college in order to be successful.
What about the 31% who don’t go to college?
If college is so great, why would someone choose not to go? For most of us, a high school diploma isn’t going to be enough to secure a livable income. Certainly if you have a family, you’ll need to invest in some sort of education to make yourself more valuable to an employer.
High school graduates who choose alternative educational paths usually have a good reason. College might be too expensive for them or they had poor grades in high school. Maybe they’re simply satisfied with where they are in life or they’d rather go straight to work instead of spending more time in the classroom.
These people want something more from life, and they need an education to get it. They just don’t need one from college.
Instead of paying for their education, they can be paid to learn.
Someone who chooses not to go to college has the opportunity to start their career the day after graduating from high school (if not before). Most often they find work as a tradesman and take advantage of the built-in educational path that comes with learning a trade like plumbing or welding.
Tradesmen primarily learn by doing, often as an apprentice. They work under the supervision of an experienced tradesman who teaches them the basics, not in the classroom but out in the field doing real work. And since they’re working from day one, tradesmen are essentially paid to learn. Getting on-the-job training like this is one of the best ways to get a useful and profitable education outside of the classroom.
Learning a trade this way has the added benefit of leading to significant career advancements almost always in a relatively short amount of time. The more tradesmen work, the more they learn, and the more they’re able to earn. For example, the average salary for an apprentice electrician is around $35,000. But after about four years, when they “graduate” to journeyman, it jumps to $55,000; and again to $67,000 or more when they become a master.
So while people who go to college wait four years to start their career, those who go straight into a trade start right away, earning an income while getting on-the-job training that leads directly to significantly better salaries down the road.
And they have the freedom to grow their own way.
College is a great tool to use for self-development and growing as a person. It’s structured, relatively free from consequences if you make mistakes, and an environment that emphasizes the importance of learning. However, you don’t have to go to college to get the same or similar educational and personal growth benefits.
Life is full of opportunities to grow, and when you don’t lock yourself into spending four years at a university, you have more freedom to choose which of those opportunities to take.
For example, if you want to learn a trade but you’re not too excited about being an apprentice, you can choose to go to a trade school. Trade schools are a lot like college. They have classes, lessons, teachers, and homework. They challenge you academically in similar ways; however, the major difference is that instead of earning a degree at the end of your education, you develop the skills and practical experience needed to assemble an engine or build a house. You can think about the difference like this: while college might teach undergrads how airplanes work, trade school teaches you how to build airplanes.
Alternatively, you could go into public service, start a business, or even join the military. All of these result in similar personal growth (you’ll be thrown into a situation that you’re likely not ready for, and be forced to grow in order to overcome it), and they each can lead to greater opportunities down the road.
While taking one of these alternate paths likely means you’d be sacrificing an opportunity for a more academic education, the benefit is that you’re able to start your career much earlier. And without having to pay for an expensive education at a university or spend an extra four years as a student. You’re able to get a head start on life and make it your own.
Who should go to college?
While going to college is an incredible experience and has become a rite of passage for many young adults, that doesn’t mean it’s the right way for everyone to get an education.
Go to college if you need a degree…
For most of us, a degree is the key that unlocks the door to some future career. While many careers require entry-level applicants to have at least a career-related bachelor’s degree of some sort, not every career requires one.
Do you plan to have a career in the medical field? You probably need a degree. Going into something like construction or aviation? You might not.
And can afford it…
College is expensive. Assuming you can’t pay for college out of pocket, your starting salary as a recent graduate should be equal to or greater than the total debt that you owe for your education. Even then, going into debt for college isn’t a great idea. If you’re not careful, you can very easily spend half your life paying it off.
And have a specific purpose for your time at college…
Most people go to college without knowing why they’re going or where it fits into their master plan. These are the people who spend years trying to figure what major to pick, wasting valuable time that they could have spent preparing for what comes after graduation. Having a specific purpose helps to keep you focused on the end goal and helps you get the most value possible out of your time at college.
And you’re absolutely dedicated to finishing.
There’s no point spending a crazy amount of money on your education if you’re not going to stick it out until the end. Not finishing school is a great way to waste a lot of time and potentially set you back in life by years.
The best way for you to get an education
If you found yourself nodding along and thinking “yup, that’s me” in the previous section, then absolutely go to college. It’s probably the best way for you to get an education.
If not, no worries! There are better paths for you.
The only person who can tell you the best option for your education is you. There isn’t a single best way that works for everyone. The best way for you to get an education depends on where you want to go in life.
So what, exactly, do you want from life? The type of education you choose to pursue should get you closer to it.
