Everyone remembers that old elementary school rhyme: “Girls go to college to get more knowledge. Boys go to Jupiter to get more stupider.” It’s a given – a classic chant and girl power anthem.
Lately I’ve noticed something that is kind of disrupting this whole “girls-can-do-anything-guys-can-do” thing. A new phrase is taking over the college lifestyle and I think it needs to go.
Some girls nowadays claim that they came to college to get their “Mrs.” Degree.
Hold the phone. Cue the record scratch.
Let me just attempt to scratch the surface and try to debunk this “new” way of thinking.
Where did this phrase come from? I consulted the ever-reliable Urban Dictionary and this is what they came up with.
According to Urban Dictionary, a Mrs. Degree is defined as “a marriage as a result of attending a 4-year university with the soul purpose of getting married and consequently not completing college.”
Call me crazy, but I think doing well in high school, excelling on standardized tests and spending hours applying to schools is an awful lot of work to not even plan on graduating or pursuing a career. Am I right ladies?
We as women owe it to ourselves to become wildly successful in our designated fields, in addition to finding love. I am a firm believer in both.
After all, what if we all just went to college exclusively to find a husband? There would be no female Supreme Court justices, no female lawyers, no female doctors, no female engineers – the list goes on and on.
What if the roles were reversed? What if guys went to college to get their “Mr.” Degree, and instead of focusing on careers and studies their ultimate goal was to find the perfect wife? Kind of a “Freaky Friday” sort of thought.
But does it really have to be that way for either sex? This is 2013 after all. You should be able to marry Nutella and drive a bubble by now.
My point is that college is important. Not only to you personally, but to the future of women as a whole. It’s degrading to simply write us off without exploring our full potential.
Not only that, but college costs tens of thousands of dollars each year to attend. That’s a hefty price to pay for a dating service don’t you think? Tinder works just as well, so I’ve been told.
In all seriousness, college is certainly a time and place where finding “the one” is a firm possibility, and an exciting one at that. But while you’re dotting your I’s with hearts and fantasizing instead of studying at the Tech Center, it’s crucial to hit the books and stay focused. You owe it to yourself to be a successful, high-powered woman who has her own goals and aspirations.
While thinking about your husband and virtually planning your wedding on Pinterest is a guilty pleasure that we all share (myself included), don’t psych yourself out. Enjoy the entirety of the college experience and take each opportunity as it comes. And if by the end you wind up with a business degree and a chance to work towards your Mrs. – good for you!
As cliché as it sounds, Mr. Right will come when you least it expect it. So in the mean time, work hard, play hard and go after what you want.
Photos from: wkms.org, Someecards