Discard that degree and follow your dream?

The worth of a degree is not just in the parchment and reputation it brings, but also in how individuals use their education to develop their lives and contribute meaningfully to society. 

What one does with their degree is significantly more important than just having the diploma. A degree is a tool, a gateway to information, and it is the actions taken afterward that establish its true value.

Upon completing my secondary education, I applied at the prestigious Makerere University, carefully selecting the courses I wanted to pursue; Law, Environmental science, Economics and Development Studies. I scored so high in high school that I could be admitted for all these courses! In the end, I settled for a degree in Development Studies, to everyone’s surprise.

Ultimately, my decision to seek a degree in Development Studies was driven more by my personal interests than by any sense of course superiority or future potential. I knew that earning a degree depends not only on the degree’s requirements but also on the decisions and actions of the individual. 

After I graduated with a degree in Development Studies, my uncle whom I hold in the highest regard taught me a very important lesson. He stressed that the degree’s value is determined by the decisions and actions one makes after graduation, emphasizing the importance of one’s actions over the degree itself.

When I was given the chance to pursue a Master’s degree, I wanted to increase the scope of my knowledge and experience. I wanted to work in a profession that would make use of my development studies expertise, but I also wanted to explore areas that weren’t just focused on it. 

I decided to enroll in a Master’s in Sustainable Rural Development programme as a result. With my previous background being non-agricultural, this field offered a unique combination of rural sociology and agriculture, exposing me to a whole new aspect of agriculture. 

A Master’s degree in sustainable rural development relieved me and gave me a comprehensive understanding of agriculture and livelihood, but it also exposed me to the course of my life monitoring and evaluation.

Upon being offered the chance to pursue additional postgraduate education, my main driving force was the desire to take on the intellectual challenge of improving my critical thinking skills and developing a results-driven mindset. 

I looked into multidisciplinary fields that connected my experiences in agriculture and rural development with the goal of learning about a topic that was both new and important to the entire world. My research led me to PGD in Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E), a rapidly developing discipline with enormous promise.

The issue was that M&E was completely foreign to me; it had not been covered in my undergraduate or master’s studies. Despite this, I chose to embrace the unknown, seeing my lack of prior knowledge as a possible evidence of the field’s importance. Recognising the value of mentorship, I consulted my uncle once more to assess the viability of venturing into an unexplored area for a practical postgraduate course. He emphasised the need for diversity in specialisation and versatility, pushing me to see my postgraduate studies as an opportunity to take on new challenges rather than following too closely to established roads.

I made a firm decision to pursue M&E course, and I never wavered in my devotion. Ideally, I wanted to move closer to a course about data and statistics, but the best I could do was monitoring and evaluation. 

Indeed, this course not only met my expectations, but it also offered me hope for remaining relevant in a dynamic and competitive environment with few and limited chances. However, if you believe that enrolling in this programme would lead to success, wealth, and fame, you will be disappointed.

I provide these thoughts to encourage young people to understand that navigating their chosen discipline is entirely their responsibility.

In general, some people use their education as a catalyst for transformational projects. They apply their gained knowledge and abilities to effect positive change, whether in their professional sectors or within their communities. These individuals realise the assistance their degree gives and actively engage in the pursuit of meaningful goals, thereby extracting the maximum potential of their education. 

On the other hand, there are others who, despite having a degree, are waiting for a rare stroke of luck or a magical opportunity to present themselves, my friend, this is so wrong!

To sum up, the influence of a degree is not fixed; rather, it serves as a blank canvas for people to fill in with their own tales of success and service.

Successful people are not those who possess degrees per se; rather, it is the proactive choices, goals, and deeds of individuals that determine the real worth of their educational path.

Ivan Munguongeyo, Performance Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting Officer Uganda Red Cross Society