Stay Your Ass in School

I work with a few Gen Z start-ups. It fascinates me that some of these amazing entrepreneurs and visionaries have dropped out of school to fulfill their dreams while others seem to manage both school, a sport, a social life AND their own business. Recently, one of my coaching clients asked my opinion on whether she should drop out of school to move her part-time job at a really awesome company to a full time gig. I didn’t have an answer necessarily or even tell her what to do, but I DID have a good story to share with her. Check it out.

The summer between my junior and senior years of college, I worked some thankless but decent-paying job that had nothing to do with my intended future career. That was due almost entirely to the fact that I had no idea how and when to score a (paid) internship. (A subject for another post.) My BFF from high school, Honey, however, had an entirely different experience that summer.  Honey was an accounting major. Rather than search for internships that typically weren’t paid, she looked for part-time and seasonal accounting jobs because securing money first and experience second were the goals driving her. She was super focused and relentless in her pursuit. It paid off. By the end of spring break of our junior year she had her summer job lined up. She would be working in the accounts-receivables department of a fortune 500 company. Honey was psyched and I was in awe.

Throughout the summer, Honey worked tirelessly, even logging in some overtime hours when asked. She was killing it and gaining a ton of knowledge in the process.  As I slogged through hours of endless boredom in a crappy warehouse fulfilling purchase orders for machine parts, I would shake my head and mutter to myself about my wasted education. I was a triple major for God’s sake. Couldn’t I find meaningful work in at least one of them? I was so angry with myself.  And then it happened. I got the call. From Honey. She was so cool and casual about it, but I could tell she was really excited. She wasn’t returning to school for her senior year. Her employer had admired her work and work ethic SO much that they offered her a full-time job for $19,000 if she stayed. NINETEEN THOUSAND DOLLARS!!!!!!! That’s like $150,000 today! Ok, it’s actually more like $40,500, but still… NINETEEN THOUSAND DOLLARS!!! OMG!! That seemed like a fortune to me, and she didn’t even need a college degree to get it!

I immediately went to my mom. “I’m dropping out of school,” I boldly informed her.  “Like hell you are,” she stated flatly without even looking up at me. I then proceeded to tell her how Honey had just struck gold. (NINETEEN THOUSAND DOLLARS!!!!!) At this point, she stopped what she was doing, sat back and quietly said to me in her matter-of-fact way, something I would never forget.  “Sure. It’s nineteen thousand dollars. That’s a lot. But without a degree, Honey will stay at nineteen thousand dollars for a very long time. Stay your ass in school and get your degree. You’ll end up ahead of the game in the long run.” My mom had just taught me the art of the long view. From that moment on, I would evaluate every major decision for its long-term as well as its short-term impact.

So, I stayed my ass in school, graduating with three majors and two degrees.  I landed a job at a prestigious ad agency in New York City the day after I graduated. And you know what they offered me? $13,000.  THIRTEEN THOUSAND DOLLARS!!! What. The. Fudge! That’s $27,800 in today’s dollars. But my mother’s lesson about playing the long game rang in my head.  I accepted the job. I didn’t stay at $13k for long, and before I knew it, I was living my dreams.

As for Honey, my mom was right.  Honey’s salary stalled in the $19k-$25K range for years.  She was so amazing at her job and knew the numbers so well.  But when it came time for raises and promotions, she was usually given some lame excuse or passed over for someone with a college degree.  Eventually, Honey went back to school to finish her education. Once that happened, an entire new world of opportunity opened up for her, and she started climbing the corporate ladder. We caught up recently and spoke about the decision she had made so long ago.  While she doesn’t regret her decision, if she could go back in time to change things, she would have countered her employer’s offer and negotiated more favorable terms for herself. The goal would have been to still get her degree and have a job waiting for her upon graduation.  Her advice to those contemplating bypassing or dropping out of college today is reminiscent of my mom’s words of wisdom, “Stay your ass in school. Get a degree, even if it’s an Associates degree. Get a degree.”