I’ve seen the phrase “disgustingly over-educated” a few too many times for my liking. Across Substack forums, Pinterest boards, and Instagram comment sections, it has officially joined the ranks as yet another overused term the Internet is beating to death.
While “disgustingly over-educated” isn’t the most appealing phrase, I rather think the idea behind it can be quite beautiful if one goes about it the right way.
Building a robust and varied mental framework can be extremely valuable. Once you’re in college, pursuing your degree, it’s very easy to get tangled up in the flurry of assignments and exams that you start to limit yourself from all that college has to offer.
You take the classes you need. You study what will be on your next exam. You finish the assignment. You move on to the next thing, and somewhere along the way, “learning” becomes synonymous with “completing my degree.”
Here’s where people start to limit themselves.
This raises an interesting question in an age where almost anything under the sun can be self-taught.Â
Want to learn astrophysics? There’s a YouTube playlist with your name on it.
Want to learn Python? There are thousands of tutorials and play-along games with eye-catching graphics.
Want to understand existentialism as described by Jean Paul Sartre? There’s probably a four-hour lecture explaining Sartre with Subway Surfers playing right next to it.
All of these easily accessible resources have led to a lot of people questioning the value of even getting a college degree. And herein lies the one thing that YouTube playlists and AI prompts could never replicate: the community aspect of learning.
Decades of empirical research have found that there is a positive correlation between discussion and collaboration in learning and student achievement and motivation. Having students discuss and challenge each other’s critical thinking helps one develop a deeper conceptual understanding of the topic. Additionally, the social skills provided in classrooms and discussion forums is something that one cannot gain by staring at a screen.Â
That being said, while your degree can open worlds of discovery and help you find your passions, with all the resources readily available to the average college student, it would be rather unfortunate not to use all of them to your own benefit.Â
Whimsify your college experience. Have fun with the journey.
Every college has a fair selection of interesting classes with little to no prerequisites. There are so many classes that have highly transferable skills, such as coding, writing, statistics, or public speaking, to name a few. There are also so many classes that give you a chance to inject some fresh perspective into your life.
I think it’s high time we put away the idea of taking classes out of necessity. Because truly, directly or indirectly, we are all here of our own free will, taking classes to complete a degree we have chosen for ourselves. Why limit our learning there?
It’s a wide world, and there is so much to learn and discover. If you take a class and decide that it isn’t for you, oh well. Now you know that contemporary Russian films aren’t for you. It’s all the better for you now that you’ve had that experience and know that you wouldn’t like to repeat it again– you can learn from failure. If you end up loving that experience, you may have just discovered a new interest.Â
The point isn’t to collect random facts so you can have a repertoire of interesting stories to tell, although that is a nice bonus. The main point is to build connections between things that initially seem unrelated.
Philosophy redefines the way you think and challenges assumptions. Literature offers doorways into different worlds and can provide understanding and clarity into your own life. Physics helps you understand the mechanics of the world and how it works. Writing encourages you to express and articulate your thoughts. Eventually, these ideas start talking to each other in your head. And that’s where the magic happens.
In acquiring skills across different disciplines, you are actively building a robust mental foundation that you will carry with you and use for the rest of your life.
You have four years, maybe more, maybe less, to explore, meet new people, and discover your interests in a place where you’re surrounded by people who have the same interests and goals as you. It’s a pivotal and remarkable time to take intellectual risks and broaden your horizons.
There are multitudes of student organizations and niche yet interesting classes that can encourage your interests or maybe even spark new ones. Sidequest. Join a club that exclusively plays board games. Join a book club. Sit in on a lecture about something you’ve never heard about before. The opportunities are endless.
Nothing’s stopping you but your own imagination and preconceptions.