Diplomas aren't the end

Education is a discipline for creation, and AI makes answers cheaper by the dozen.

Your education doesn’t end with a diploma

It’s is an indicator that you’ve started, not a guarantee that you’ll continue.

There’s a hidden cost to the whole thing: the assumption that school “completes” you as an individual ready to serve the greater good. In reality, this customer mindset turns the diploma into a trophy. You frame it, mount it, and point to it as proof you deserve success. The harder it was to get it, the more entitled you feel, and the more frustrating it is when things don’t pan out.

Honestly, it’s supposed to be a key, but it’s treated more like a receipt.

You can see this mindset in how parents approach education. If their children aren’t doing well, they march into the principal’s office and demand satisfaction. They paid for an outcome, and they demand a quality product. They expect K-12 taxes to guarantee kids will be all shiny and college-bound, and the competition is fierce to secure an Ivy League pedigree. (Fun fact: I got rejected by Yale, but I ended up at Duke.)

Our attitude toward learning gets distorted, and when education becomes customer service, curiosity is the first casualty.

Purchasing power and the “What’s in it for me?” trap

During my near-decade in the university system, I watched peers pass on interesting topics and challenging courses…all for the sake of preserving their GPA. The first questions were usually about the amount of homework or the attendance policy, not the content or the quality. It wasn’t everyone, but they tended to be the ones who were focused on getting to their graduate programs: law school, medical school, an MBA…

There is a distinct danger to this approach in the long-term.

The post-college (real) world runs on subscriptions, leaving us broke, exhausted, and trapped. After leaving with their degrees firmly in hand, they find out padding a resume this way doesn’t attract the opportunities they expected. It ends up being just a line or two in the background section, gradually moving farther and farther down as the years go by…

So they punt.

It becomes about image and obtaining nice things. It’s the fancy cars, the big promotion, or the next glitzy vacation. For most, other paths never materialize, and they unintentionally settle for the 9-5 and the pursuit of the corner office.

The truth is that finishing school is not the same as finishing learning.

The end of college is the beginning of something greater

You are responsible for how you wield your knowledge.

Receiving a degree is proof that you are capable of learning in a structured setting, that and you can take care of yourself without adult supervision. The true potential that you possess is still untested. It’s a key that opens doors. Regardless of which you choose, you’ve still got to earn your place inside.

To do that, you have to keep designing, building, and exploring.

How? By taking action. You must make something. Anything. It doesn’t matter how small it is or how simple it may be. The act of creation is your birthright, and education provides direction and a little momentum. Seek people to teach, to mentor, and to learn from. Doing so earns new keys, new doors, new access.

Momentum surpasses credentials. Always. Be. Creating.

One of the most powerful ways to do this is to revisit the very beginning of the process and witness it with a mature perspective.

The big picture from a distance

Parenthood reframed everything I thought I knew.

When my first child was born, I realized that everything that I had accomplished for myself was wholly inadequate for what was about to happen. I had just embarked on the first of two 18-year commitments to raise and educate a human being. While not all of their knowledge would come from me, the foundations of their systems would.

For all my accomplishments to date, I knew that I couldn’t afford to do it the same way that my parents had. While my father had devoted his entire life to teaching at the local community college to support us, that path alone no longer seemed viable.

I didn’t realize the full weight of that reality until that moment: even the highest diploma is only a head start toward lifelong mastery.

It starts with intent—clear purpose and relentless drive.

The technology sending shockwaves through the system

AI pumps out answers before we even know to ask the questions.

When the solutions are cheap, credentials become more signaling, not learning. The edge we possess is rooted in intent and creation—questions that are uniquely human.

With the explosion of this technology, the game of life has an easy button right at the university entrance. Students now have the option to focus more on networking and certifications over learning. It can feel like the only prerequisite is basic reading comprehension. Everything else can be spoon-fed to them with a simple prompt.

The reality is that we are pushed to become shiny cogs of all shapes and sizes that fit neatly into the machine of human society. AI can be the off-ramp or the accelerator. The only thing that determines the outcome is how it’s used.

The world stops encouraging education as a focus after college, moving it to the fringes of what little free time we have. We’re nudged toward utility and practicality rather than the pursuit of wonder and curiosity. That, and we are meant to be eternally grateful to have this privilege. But useful is not the same as educated.

While AI can simulate answers, it can’t simulate the original intent from which we seek them. In fact, it’s one of the greatest tools for continuing our education throughout our lives.

Got something to say?

Reply with two bullet points:

1. What did your education not prepare you for?

2. How did you teach yourself?