Why do people keep going back to school?

Currently, I am a master’s student. I am one of those people who decided to immediately go to graduate school after their undergraduate work. Despite the downsides that may come from of such a decision, there is no doubt in my mind that this was the right thing for me. Jumping from a degree in the humanities and into a very selective and intensive science program has not been a breeze to say the least, but I am overjoyed to be able to study in my degree program. However, there is an abundance of students at my university who are here aimlessly.

This is not to say that I know what I am doing or that I know what others should do, rather I have observed the curious occurrence and recurrence of university becoming a purgatory for many people. Often times, it seems that despite people’s true interests or the path they could take to do what they really want to many end up in school to gain a degree they do not truly want or care about. Is this a result of wanting to prolong youth? Or to prevent the arrival of real responsibility? Or enjoying the ride that university can be? Or something else?

Is it not unfortunate that there is a generation of students who study, not because they want to, but because they feel they have to? In a world with abundant options to learn outside of education it seems a bit ridiculous that we have inculcated ourselves to believe that the one must get a degree. Although this mentality is changing, there seems still to be an abundance of unnecessary investment in degrees people do not want. The…