by Bryan Jones
It seems ancient history by this point, but on December 13, 2014 the fall Class of 2014, composing of several hundred students, graduated with various degrees ranging from Doctoral all the way to bachelor degrees. I was one of them.
For most, graduation consists of walking a platform for five seconds, shaking hands with the university president and dean of the college you got your degree in, and being given a rather torturous piece of paper. This paper leaves open the possibility you spent an entire morning of your life for something you had no right being at in the first place – a rather brutal position to be in if you don’t have all of your grades at that time.
For most undergraduates at UWG, this will come as a surprise but it did not for me. I already walked the stage once before, having received an associate degree in history from Gainesville State College in 2012. By the time I walked the stage at the University of West Georgia, I had already clocked in 176 credit hours across multiple fields that eventually cumulated in a Bachelor of Science degree in political science between the two schools. I had been in this position before.
Yet, unlike when I got my associate, the degree itself was completely irrelevant to me. Education is more than the degrees and the chains of schools you have been to, whether they are as “significant” as Harvard or as “insignificant” as a local community college. It is about accumulating knowledge and applying such knowledge to situation that may come up in your career as well as in your life in general. Therefore, when I hold the paper claiming that chance, it really does not matter in my mind. The university can say I have earned a degree and hail me, and hundreds of others, as graduates of the university all day long. Alternatively, they can tell me that I failed to meet the proper requirements and thus deny me the degree.
However, does the act of receiving or denying a degree mean you learned nothing? I would argue no.
Regardless of what happens or what has been done in school or in life, something has been learned. Perhaps you learned why there are two hydrogen atoms in water instead of four. On the other hand, maybe you learned why partying through 5 a.m. the night before a final is not a suggested method of preparing for a test. Alternatively, you may have learned, as I eventually did, the benefits and downfalls of using a laptop to take lecture notes. Does one need a degree to say they have learned lessons from these events and apply them to the future? Of course not.
One issue to quell before I move on. I am not advocating for the abandonment of university degree programs. They are a profound aid in enabling the educational process in the lives of students, and I personally recommend all who are able to invest in their future via a college degree. What I am suggesting, however, is that we make a slight shift in the way we look at our role as students, both of a university and of life itself.
So where does the University of West Georgia come into the mix of all of this? Not only did many of my professors encourage this style of education, but even compelled it to some degree. They did so in standard methods – reading before class, discussing material, etc. – but it gave opportunity to go through and think about the material. This instilled the material in me and I still carry some of the contents and debates not only in contemplation, but also in forms of reconciliation of thoughts, views and theories.
When I walked up to be recognized for my degree and to shake hands with Dr. Amber Smallwood and Dr. Kyle Marrero, while simultaneously quelling fears of tripping in front of thousands of people, it was about more than the paper in my hand as well as the paper saying I have a bachelor’s degree. It was about honoring the students who have learned in their fields and recognizing the professors, staff, and administrative faculty who taught and helped refine goals and interests of students along the way.
However, learning does not end when we walked out of the Coliseum and it certainly will not end as long as we walk this Earth. We will still gain knowledge, adapt it to situations and analyze how it turned out and where improvements can be made. The majority will be heading into the workforce to carry on this aspect of life. However, more knowledge is needed for some people to get into their fields of interest. It could require law school or, as is the case for myself, it may require more education via graduate school.
Wherever we may go or whatever we may do, we chose to start here. We chose to Go West. We chose to have UWG as a main pivot of our lives and careers. And I think I can speak on behalf of the tens of thousands of alumni who have graduated from this university in saying thank you for all that you have done and all that you will do.
Bryan Jones '14 is currently a graduate student at UWG.
