I stand with you on every reason that you are studying for your master’s degree. I, however, feel a little bit different about it and I would like to share my thoughts on this matter with you.
I once received an email from someone whose name had a long list of titles behind it. In summary, they deal with rangelands and pastures. I thought to myself, how come we do not feel the impact of that here in Karamoja?
It makes me uncomfortable to carry the title of doctor and not have much to show for it. It bothers me. It offends me when I see someone carry the title of agriculturalist and still farm with rain just like every other ordinary farmer. It bothers me. It bothers me when my knowledge cannot create a difference in another person’s life, let alone my own.
I already am discontent. There is a lot more I can and should do by virtue of my education. I have not done these things and it kills me every day. Why should I add on a master’s degree to torment me even more?
To attain a university degree is a privilege. To have a Bachelor’s degree in anything is a privilege. I do not find it alright to have a Bachelor’s degree and still live the same kind of life that someone without the same opportunity lives. It feels like a wasted chance or that I am taking my education for granted. My opportunity has got to matter. Someone who did not have a better chance should be able to live differently or better because I choose to be impactful with the opportunity I have been given. I feel as if education is the superpower I have been handed by which I can transmit knowledge and make life better for another person.
Besides, the kind of freedom I seek, which is the ability to utilize the whole of my being; every gift, every talent, every ability, every opportunity, for my own good and for the good of others, is not vested in acquiring another set of knowledge which I would not apply anywhere.
I would love to actually be a complete doctor and currently the skill I desire most is surgery. With this, I know that I can have a direct impact on the community that I serve.
The Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine (BVM) university transcript comes in two certificates because the course units are so many. I cannot honestly say that I have utilized everything on that transcript. Sometimes I feel as if a masters’ degree is a way to mask insecurities and to cover up certain perceived incompetence which could easily be fixed by focusing to learn that particular skill one would like to perfect instead of carrying on an entire master’s degree.
I propose that instead of spending more money paying for one’s master’s degree, this money is invested in attaching oneself to another professional who is skilled in the area that one hopes to build expertise. One can then continue to gather skills from as many other people and places as one needs to acquire the skills they want to possess. Afterwards and ultimately, they can purchase their own freedom to establish their own empire in their field of expertise.
When I count the cost of what it took to take me through veterinary school, 10 years on my salary would still not be enough to recover all that money spent. In terms of return on investment alone, I find that a master’s degree is not worth it except when it is sponsored. Also, there is a tendency of the master’s degree to be a means to acquiring a higher level position in formal employment which for me is not very appealing. What I find appealing is to seek financial independence and the ability to create infinite wealth from within myself. I am open to acquiring a master’s degree if it will lead me onto this road of financial freedom and palpable societal impact; but to acquire a master’s degree for the sake of achieving a higher position in employment? It just does not feel right for me. I wonder if I am misguided in thinking this way.
It is just that I believe the life in all of us is so limitless and boundless that it deserves to be unleashed and not forced into the box of a limiting education. Our abilities are vast and unquantifiable, having nothing by which they can be measured. Often times a formal education subdues our most natural inclinations and expression by which we might thrive effortlessly.
I am all for attaining the kind of education that allows us to best express who we are and to excel at the things in which we are most naturally gifted and passionate about. Unfortunately, a formal classroom may not be this place for most of us and what is worse is, we may live all our lives not knowing this truth as we struggle to cope with lives that the formal education system handed to us and we unquestioningly accepted.
To go for a master’s degree for the sake of it, I feel, is to entrench ourselves further into this quagmire that we already are in too deep.
I really am interested in knowing what you feel about doing a master’s degree. Don’t feel shy to make your comments. They are valid.
Regards,
Anna Grace
0 thoughts on “UNPOPULAR OPINION: Do you really need that Master’s degree?”
Hmm!
This is double edged. I personally think that in today’s context persuing a masters is more about attaining career aspirations and a cushion as dictated by today’s dynamic work environment.
Whichever way you look at it, that edge offered by that masters can be a gate way to financial independence. Often time, the results will allow you tap into the infinite wealth from within.
While we would best benefit from the kind of education that allows us to benefit from the gifts from within us, it’s not yet with us. So for now, we will make do with what is available.
My thoughts.
Wow, I love how you articulate yourself so well and I like the chronology with which you break it down. I specifically understand what you mean when you talk of the realities of the work environment. I guess a master’s degree can be a means to an end. Thank you Ivan for sharing your thoughts. I truly appreciate it that you took the time to read.
I agree with you on a great extent. However it depends where your passion lies and where you are working currently and problems that you need to address.
There is always need to aspire and improve on our knowledge and skills almost on a daily basis so as to cope up with the dynamic world challenges.
There is need to advance and be role models in a certain field of specialisation. We can not be good at everything , however we can be best at something through continous professional development and attract endless opportunities for other people by rekindling them to advance to provide solutions in this dynamic world.
My thoughts
Regards
Thank you Jackson for sharing your thoughts. Also, I appreciate the time that you took to read.
It bothers me when my knowledge cannot create a difference in another person’s life, let alone my own.
No you are not misguided it makes the two of us, i attained a bachelors Degree of Arts in ethics and Human rights a course that was later scrapped off after only after three years of it being introduced to Makerere Universty.
It has never sat down well with me that i spent money, and 3yrs of engaging in a dead end course. A course that hasnt earned me any coin, a course that hasnt even elevated my lifestyle at all… Similar to those master’s degrees people attain if its for decorative purposes it shouldnt be pursued in the first place…. but again who am i to be de life compass of someone who worships education…
Bwire, I think it is a matter of enlightenment. I actually feel your pain. There’s a video I’d like to share with you, if you don’t mind
It bothers me as well, that I am not impacting society as much as I should, as a veterinarian who spent five years becoming one. Considering, how very versatile this Bachelor of Veterinary medicine course is (like you said, the course units cannot even fit on one transcript) , veterinarians should be moving mountains, but we aren’t, which of course, is unfortunate.
For most of us, myself included, a master’s course is a way to improve skill, gain more knowledge and eventually get a much faster cheque at the end of every month, but then again , if you think about it, can we not achieve that already with all those courses that fit on two transcripts? I think we can, and I could write a book on all the things constraining us, but I’d rather spend my energies on discovering how to harness all the knowledge and skill acquired in all those course units. I agree with you, that as a veterinarian in particular, you’re better off attaching yourself to someone with the knowledge and skills you want to acquire and learning from them. So, I guess this is the way forward.
This makes an interesting read. Unfortunately some of us will give you a biased opinion because we have a master’s degree. Personally, I did so because I was offered my first job in a research institution which demanded a lot more than being a good clinician. I had not been fully grounded for research, so I was practically stuck. I excelled though as a clinician and surgeon but not in research.
I decided henceforth not to lie to myself but go make myself better, which I successfully did.
So Dr. Awilli, if you are still comfortable with the knowledge and skills you have, then you don’t need a master’s, and you will be fine.
Kudos for a well managed blog!👏🏼👏🏼✍🏼