There’s something tragic about overhearing a student claim that they hate their field of study, but intend to grind it out because of career opportunities. Strictly speaking, the end goal of acquiring a degree should not be finding a job. 

Students often find themselves compelled to get a degree in profitable fields such as business, law or the sciences, justifying their choices with the tempting prospect of finding gainful employment down the road, only to realize they aren’t following their true desires.

The university experience has become increasingly commercialized and — in many cases — acquiring a degree is a sort of like a transaction. You pay a large amount of money to get a lovely piece of paper that will then make you irresistible to employers.

The pursuit of employment can often overshadow the reality of what that employment entails on an everyday basis. Using money as a justification for wasting your university years focusing on a field that doesn’t captivate you can set a toxic example for how you perceive work and money in general.

The justification many students use for staying in uninspired degree programs seems to have to do with social norms of what they think they’re “supposed to” be doing.

Under the current system, as a student, one is expected to finish high school, go immediately to the University of Saskatchewan or Saskatchewan Polytechnic and then, four years later, enter the workforce until you retire. This is rather disinteresting.

Students are constantly dealing with this social progression, as well as many other pressures that pursuing an education and career entail. It’s easy to lose oneself in the process of education and it is in that process that much of our passion is lost.

A student should never be disinterested with the prospect of what they will be doing for the rest of their life. The process should be engaging and thrilling and it certainly shouldn’t be resented.

No one says that university is easy, and I’m certainly not arguing that it should be. In whatever field you study, the demands are rigorous, the workload is a burden and the hours you need to commit will be immense. This is true for every degree at the U of S.

The thing many students don’t realize is that putting in the hours it takes to earn a degree doesn’t just educate you about that specific field — it gives you vitally important skills that you can then utilize upon entering the workforce.

Having a bachelor’s degree is a pre-requisite for a range of jobs in a variety of fields and the communicative, analytical and time management skills that a bachelor’s degree provides to students are universally applicable.

The goal of getting a degree should therefore not rely on the job that it may or may not help to secure. It should be based on the passion for the subject.

For many — maybe even most — the desire to succeed in high stress, high reward professions justly informs their academic decisions. However, to those whose motivations are less firm, the mere prospect of employment should not guide your choice in a field of study.

Fewer and fewer students are graduating and finding jobs within their major, yet the demand for employees who possess these degrees is unwavering. The case, then, for following your academic dreams over your projected future financial desires is a strong one.

University graduates are more hirable than non-university graduates. This is an economic fact and is likely to remain as such. So don’t let money decide what kind of career you want to pursue. Instead, go for a degree in something you enjoy.

You may not find a job in your field of study, but there will always be a demand for educated people in the workforce. Ultimately, one must take stock of what truly makes them happy and then pursue it forever.

Finding a career you love will then be nothing more than a byproduct of a truly realized university experience.

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Lee Bonham

Graphic: Jeremy Britz / Graphics Editor