do you consider your graduation of high school/college to be a big achievement of yours?

[Fulminator]

Hey Era, just wondering what other people's thoughts were on this. I recently got my college diploma, and I don't really want it. I don't really feel like I need anything to tell me I graduated first off lol, but also to me, it doesn't really feel like graduating is much of an achievement. It more or less was just me following someone else's instruction for 4+ years and not really doing it on my own. I don't really consider it to be something that I'm proud of despite putting in a lot of work and effort to finish school. I'm not entirely sure how to put it into words exactly, but it just doesn't feel like I actually did much. Of course my parents think I'm ridiculous for thinking this, but that doesn't really mean much to me lol.

anyone else feel like this? or is it actually a great personal accomplishment of yours?

just curious to see how people feel about it

 

[julia crawford]

I graduated last week. Paid for the whole thing myself. Worked at the same time. One of the best students of the class.

It's my greatest achievement.

 

[Z-Beat]

They felt more like an expectation than an accomplishment.

 

[Fulminator]

I graduated last week. Paid for the whole thing myself. Worked at the same time. One of the best students of the class.

It's my greatest achievement.

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nice, congrats. happy for you!

 

[Mesoian]

The way I was raised, graduating high school and college was just a thing you did. It was expected of you. It wasn't some grand trial that you underwent, it was the norm.

The end goal my parents wanted was clearly a Ph-D, but that wasn't in the books. I was done with studying when I got my masters. 10 years later, I'm in a career where I use almost 0% of the knowledge I learned in high school and college.

 

[Deleted member 4367]

I didn't struggle or really even give much effort for any of it so no.

 

[King Alamat]

Other than a prank I pulled getting mentioned in the salutatorian's speech, not really. In my high school, you were considered gifted if you were literate.

 

[Armouredpriest]

High School, no. University, yes.

 

[Futureman]

I was the first person in my family history to graduate with a 4 year degree but... hahaha no. Not really a big accomplishment. Pretty much drifted through college.

 

[Ryuelli]

I was the first person on my dad's side of the family to graduate from college, so yes.

As far as high school goes, while it wasn't particularly hard and while I agree with the person above who says it felt more like an expectation, I still felt proud of myself for doing so.

 

[Cilla]

High school no because it's just high school.

But university? I haven't graduated yet but I finish in February. Tacking more than a full load this semester so that I can. I am doing quite a difficult course and during this course I have worked, had two miscarriages, given birth, gotten divorced and been a single parent from the time my daughter was six weeks old. All on top of a chronic illness. So yes, when I graduate it will be a huge achievement for me.

 

[CloseTalker]

High school no, I didn't put it much effort, and I hated most of it.

Post-grad, yeah. I moved away from my home town, was living on my own, and worked my ass off. It was instrumental to the job I have right now, so I'd be silly to not recognize it as an accomplishment.

 

[Forerunner]

Not really. I was just something I had to do.

 

[Geoff]

Fuck no. Made no effort in school, made no effort in university. Came out with OK grades.

 

[Gav]

High school, no.
My Bachelor's and Masters Engineering degrees, absolutely yes. I worked full time whilst studying, for a total of 6 years for them.

Huge part of my life, and I worked my arse off. So, I feel it was a big achievement.

 

[Deleted member 2109]

Not really. I just wanted to graduate high school and get on with my life.

 

[vypek]

High School, no. University, yes.

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Same for me

 

[Fulminator]

I was the first person on my dad's side of the family to graduate from college, so yes.

As far as high school goes, while it wasn't particularly hard and while I agree with the person above who says it felt more like an expectation, I still felt proud of myself for doing so.

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my parents and grandparents all went to and graduated from some sort of college, so I can't relate to this, but I'm just curious if you could elaborate on how this makes it an achievement for you? not trying to knock your accomplishment, just interested in the perspective

 

[Deleted member 9135]

No to both. My wife and I both run our own respective companies now and none of the information either of us absorbed in either institutions contributed to our success.

I will take a different approach before asserting expectations on my kids re: college / university. I really think you need to have a plan going in before wasting time and dollars.

 

[Massicot]

My undergrad? A little bit. Made it through without any debt, as well as made some good connections for grad school and beyond.

For my Ph.D, absolutely. Paid some extra money to get my dissertation custom bound and everything. I still proudly keep it at the top shelf of my office.

 

[Deleted member 57378]

As others have said...
No, its the bare minimum.

 

[ToddBonzalez]

No. high school and college were both fairly easy. Just have to obtain those pieces of paper to keep moving up in the world. I did feel somewhat accomplished when I got my masters since it was a very challenging and intense program. Much more so than undergrad.

 

[Kyrios]

High School, no. University, yes.

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Same

I graduated last week. Paid for the whole thing myself. Worked at the same time. One of the best students of the class.

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Congrats! Happy Graduation!

 

[fontguy]

Graduation was a deceitful metric those around me could use to pretend everything was even remotely okay.

 

[Kill3r7]

Nope just something I needed to do in order to work in field I was studying for. However my parents took a lot of pride in it. I imagine, I will feel the same if and when my kids graduate from college and/or postgrad degree.

 

[pokeystaples]

High school not so much, but I am the first/only grandkid in my family to graduate from college. It was a huge deal for myself and my family.

 

[ascii42]

College felt like an accomplishment, since there's a lot less handholding and a lot more room to really mess up.

 

[Violence Jack]

I made a promise to myself in 8th grade that I was going to shoot for being my class valedictorian. I finished 5th, and was one of only 3 black students to graduate with honors. First in my family's history to do so. Damn right that was a huge achievement after barely passing middle school.

I merely survived getting my Bachelors from a University that I hated, but still pulled my GPA up to a 3.0 by the end.

Became the first person in my family's history to receive my Masters, so that was a big achievement as well.

 

[Deleted member 12224]

No.

LSAT score and admission to law school felt like an achievement.

 

[Jay1V]

Graduated college a few months ago felt the exact same way. I didn't even let my family throw me a party. I was just going through the motions and didn't feel like I was challenged because all my biology classes were memorization, which I'm great at.

I will probably be more ecstatic when I graduate dental school 4 years from now though.

 

[Deleted member 1086]

I barely even remember it, was so long ago

actually the strongest memory I have of my high school graduation is of me stupidly wearing my dress shoes to drive across town to attend the ceremony. Here I am in these uncomfortable shoes driving a 1970 Ford Maverick with a manual transmission, those 20 or so minutes were agonizing. Was kicking myself that I didn't bring sneakers to operate the clutch in the car and simply change into the dress shoes once I got to the parking lot.

 

[Lunchbox-]

college yeah.
The financial burden on the line, internships, had to complete it on time to join a job offer i had that had a clause of graduating by a certain date, 3000/4000 levels being challenging above my expectations, and having your entire life/career dependent on certain tests and classes

high school no
slept, skipped and played Halo through most of it and somehow ended up with undeserved honors 🤷‍♂️

 

[Z-Beat]

High school no because it's just high school.

But university? I haven't graduated yet but I finish in February. Tacking more than a full load this semester so that I can. I am doing quite a difficult course and during this course I have worked, had two miscarriages, given birth, gotten divorced and been a single parent from the time my daughter was six weeks old. All on top of a chronic illness. So yes, when I graduate it will be a huge achievement for me.

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Yikes, good on you for keeping up with all of that

 

[Fulminator]

College felt like an accomplishment, since there's a lot less handholding and a lot more room to really mess up.

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in my experience this isnt true. i feel like most places will do lots of things to prevent students from failing a class, unless you have absolutely proven yourself to be a terrible student unwilling to learn

 

[LOLDSFAN]

They felt more like an expectation than an accomplishment.

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.

 

[Cerulean_skylark]

I'm the only member of my immediate family to have a Bachelor's degree. It was a huge deal for me.

Only child of my family who went to university. Dad didn't even graduate high school.
Still get treated like i don't know shit, even from my own field of study. LOL. once the black-sheep, always the black-sheep

 

[SweetBellic]

Earning my undergraduate and master's degrees was an achievement, but not one I commemorate with a diploma on my wall or anything. I didn't even participate in my commencement ceremonies, despite graduating summa cum laude. It's something I can put on a resume that has qualified me for my last few positions, not something I derive pride or any deep sense of identity from.

 

[Driver]

Everyone graduates high school, it's pretty damn easy. I celebrated when it was over because It was over. Getting a Computer Science degree was an actual achievement though. I worked really hard for that.

 

[CrazyAndy]

Im the only one in my family who graduated from university, so yeah, I consider it a big achievement.

 

[Gakidou]

It's my work that I cared about, not my degree. University was a means to develop skills, and get better and get noticed. I got hired right between final submissions and graduation ceremony so I didn't even bother attending graduation or anything, just got my results in the mail hehe.

Seeing how my friends and family reacted to the various paintings and crafts and sketches I produced during my A-Levels and BA Degree is the bit I'm proud of. I don't think i'd feel too put-out in the long run if I didn't finish the course and I still ended up where I am today?

 

[carlsojo]

High school I was just glad to be free.

College.. man I busted my ass for that nursing degree. Probably one of my proudest accomplishments actually.

 

[irishsoccermbw]

High School? No.
College? No.
Graduating with honors from Law School and passing the bar on my first attempt? Absolutely.

 

[NekoNeko]

hell no.

 

[Soapbox Killer]

Nope never did either and still being fairly successful is the far bigger accomplishment.

 

[Fulminator]

It's my work that I cared about, not my degree. University was a means to develop skills, and get better and get noticed. I got hired right between final submissions and graduation ceremony so I didn't even bother attending graduation or anything, just got my results in the mail hehe.

Seeing how my friends and family reacted to the various paintings and crafts and sketches I produced during my A-Levels and BA Degree is the bit I'm proud of. I don't think i'd feel too put-out in the long run if I didn't finish the course and I still ended up where I am today?

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yeah this is why I don't completely regret going to college, because it was very useful for skill building, but graduation and completion of the program(s) aren't necessarily anything I'm proud of

 

[Pau]

I was incredibly depressed for most of my time in high school. I would regularly skip class for weeks at a time. If I didn't have the support system of my teachers, I would not have graduated. So yeah, I consider it an achievement, especially graduating salutatorian at a competitive school.

Same for college, really. I dropped out twice because of depression. Finally finished on the third go with a near perfect GPA.

I can count the number of people in my family with a Bachelor's degree on one hand. My parents don't have one. Many people in my family didn't even graduate high school. So while it was definitely expected of me to attend college and my parents really pushed me to be a perfect student, I didn't have a lot of role models to follow.

I'm always a little jealous of people who say school was so easy for them, but I'm glad that for many people it wasn't the struggle it was for me. In between my mental health and my parent's incredibly high expectations, school was anything but an easy ride. And I'm sure it's worse for many others.

 

[teruterubozu]

High School and college were kind of a joke. I busted my ass for my masters degree though.

 

[Deleted member 48897]

College was pretty difficult and I was going through some pretty significant depressive episodes at some of the time. I didn't do a great job in it but I managed to get by and that, to my mind, counts for a lot. It was also one of those intense "public ivy" sorts of places, too, so even doing a mediocre job is probably better than being a high-ranking student at a lot of other places.

I think the most important skill I learned was to swallow my damn pride and ask for help when I needed it.

 

[Expy]

Nope. If anything it showed me how useless a lot of the degrees are.

 

[Reckheim]

I didn't try too hard in either high school or college, so no.