As a result of the global pandemic, many students are enrolling in online college degree programs instead of attending school in person. Others attend classes part-time, and some attend in-person classes as full-time students. There are many ways to approach the setup, and with those options comes the more pressing question of if college, in general, is right for you. In this article, we help you determine if college is the right choice for you in 2022.
What Do You Want?
One way to start thinking about going to college or taking an alternative path is to sit down and ask yourself what you want or are looking to accomplish at this point in your life. Ask yourself how your choices today may impact your future goals and aspirations. If you determine that you want to become a doctor, you’ll need to go to college. In this case, you’ve already made your decision, and you need to start considering how to be successful as a student.
If your career path is entirely self-made, you may not feel that school is necessary, and instead of relying on hard skill examples to thrive, you use your soft skills and natural abilities to build your career. Sit down with yourself and decide how going to school or not would affect you in 2022 and beyond.
What Are Your Values?
Your values will influence any significant decision you make in life. How you feel and your beliefs about yourself, others, and the world color your choices. You’ll need to decide if going to college resonates with your values or not. How much do you value education or continued learning? It will take some self-inquiry to determine how you feel, but managing your time to ensure you have “me time” is essential. You want to make the best choices for yourself, so take your time with the process and start with a good morning routine.
What Are The Pros And Cons?
Examine how you consider going to college makes you feel. Take some time imagining both sides of the coin. What would it be like to go to school? How do you plan to earn money while going to college? What would it be like to do something else? Follow your imagination and see which decision feels most authentic to you. Make a pros and cons list and see which side holds more weight towards the right decision.
What About Waiting?
You might have already decided that you want to go to college, but you’re not sure if now is the best time. Consider the benefits of waiting a bit, perhaps taking a gap year to travel and develop your skills. Are these benefits worth it, or is going to school now the better option? No one can tell you what the right thing to do is but yourself. Get comfortable asking yourself these questions so you can start cultivating the path you want to pursue.
Do External Factors Influence You?
If society or those in your life are putting pressure on you to go to college, or the opposite, to stay home and care for family members or a family business, you might feel compelled to honor their wishes. This is understandable, but this is YOUR life. It would be best if you decided what makes sense for you. Don’t base your decisions on someone else’s expectations.
The Bottom Line
Deciding if going to college this year is the right choice or not is all about your thoughts and feelings on the matter. Use the questions above as a general guide to help you decide for yourself whether attending college now is the right move to make.
