I think that education is the key to getting your foot into the door so that you can build your life experiences & actual training on that solid foundation that has common knowledge to specific fields, careers, or professions.

In some cases, that education is college, trade schools, or whatever provides the solid groundwork to base the future of the position on.

As we progress from there, we have experiences, achievements, additional education....whatever we need to excell in the area we are working in. If along the path, we have accomplished something that is honored by others, & given an honorary title, then I feel that is earned just as much as someone working & achieving another level degree....which is also a huge achievement.

Achievement earned titles, positions, or other in my mind are all very equal & show that they have actually done something to earn what they have.

The one thing that makes me very very very very angry is the ability to just BUY a diploma. I know how much work goes into a degree. My BS degree in Computer Science way back in 1978 took much blood, sweat, & tears to earn. To stay current in the technology after I earned the degree & worked as an engineer continued to take blood, sweat, & tears. Then for someone to just buy a degree & think they can fake their way into a career that takes knowledge maked me angry. The thing is that when it comes to preforming, those people usually can't hack it & their lack of true knowledge comes out once they have run out of the Buzz words & talk that is used to cover up the lack of ability.

The sad thing is also that some people get their degree without putting energy or real learning into it. They get the degree by sliding by....just doing enough to get through & get that degree so they can get their food into the door. That happened with my Grandfather when I was a child. He was working as an Auditor for the Santa Fe railroad. I don't think he even had his high school diploma, but had to go out to work when he was young because the family needed money. Towards the end of his 50 years with the company, a kid just out of college came to the company, knowing one of the higher-up's & got the job opening over my Grandpa instead of moving him up to the position & letting the kid learn....just because the kid had the degree & knew someone. Sad thing was that my Grandpa ended up doing the kid's job because it had to be done.

I don't remember the ending of this situation, but hopefully as time went, the kid did learn his job & would be able to do the work he had to do, but that usually depends on the person's personality. Sometimes they feel that they can get by without ever having to do their job, others, it's just a learning curve & they work at being more than capable.

Buying your degree without knowledge, or buying your way in life, thinking that money can buy you everything including happiness is a very very sad life.

My feeling about education is that school provides the foundation for the education of life to be built on.
Debbie