Re: Value of an ag degree

Posted by 2002sliverado on September 04, 2017 at 18:30:12 from (142.54.26.150):

In Reply to: Value of an ag degree posted by NY 986 on September 03, 2017 at 08:07:11:

There certainly there are a variety of opinions, as well as experiences from which those opinions are based upon. I graduated from high school during the farm economy crisis. Our farming operation was a good sized operation at that time in our locale, but it wasn't deemed "too big to fail" like others were with the debt restructuring that went on. We survived, but it was based upon hard work and running a lean operation, as well as strategic expansion. I was practically chased off the farm by my parents, and an uncle and aunt who were motivated to try and drive my father out of the operation, too. I wanted to farm. It was in my blood, and I wanted to be the 5th generation to make a living off the family farm. It was not meant to be, and I struggled for a number of years fighting that battle against my parents, as well as my uncle and aunt, who were part of the farming operation back then. I worked in agronomy for 12 years in close proximity to the family farm, and ultimately burned myself out trying to make that work as well as trying to get into farming at the same time. I dramatically changed career paths after re-inventing myself professionally. I learned a great deal helping my father in those 12 years, and learned more after my career change. I took on the challenge of earning a Master's Degree a few years back. I feel that I am a much better businessman and also a better human being today than I would have been had my path in life gone the way that I had originally wanted it to go and going directly to the farm. I farm part time today, while holding down my current career. Like probably all of us commenting here today can state, we can look back and see the mistakes we made and feel pretty good about the successes we have had. Hindsight is always perfect 20/20 vision. I am in a much stronger position both financially and professionally, had things gone the way I had originally wanted them to go. Times are different today than they were nearly 30 years ago when I graduated from college the first time. Today's Master's degree probably has the same value my Bachelor's degree had nearly 30 years ago. My parents, like so many other parents in rural areas in the 1980's, saw little to no future for their kids, so they pushed them to get out of the small towns of rural America. There are opportunities back in these smaller towns, which were not there 30 years ago. Times, situations, and conditions will always change. Change is probably the only constant in life. We do not know what the future holds. We know what we have today. We draw from our own experiences from our past, and try our best to live today and in an unknown and uncertain future. A college degree was my ticket to a more secure future, whether I realized it at the time or not. Today, there are numerous vocational programs out there available to our youth to help them obtain a more secure future. College degrees in the right fields are also out there to help obtain a more secure future, too, but those degrees applicable to today and into the future are probably fewer than they once were.

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