I had always been told that education was the key to success and I had believed it blindly.
I had worked hard and graduated from a local university with a degree in accounting. I was excited and sure that with this degree I would be able to get a job that would pay me handsomely and make me successful.
Friend doing sales earns more than him
However, life had other plans for me. After months of searching and applying for jobs, I managed to get a job paying me about $4,500. It was a good figure for a fresh grad and was satisfied.
However, my unhappiness was compounded when I learnt that my friend, who had not gone to Uni, was earning more than me, easily $6,000 and above every month.
He had found a job in sales and was doing very well. He had managed to get a good salary and was succeeding in his career.
I felt envious and unhappy. I had worked so hard for my degree and yet I was still not able to make as much money as him. I felt like a complete failure. I had invested all my time and energy into getting an education and yet, here I was, with nothing to show for it.
I was so frustrated that I started to resent my friend even more. How could he be so successful when he wasn’t even educated? It felt unfair. I felt like I had been cheated out of a good career and a good salary.
Started to feel that having a degree is useless
I started to feel like I had wasted my time and energy on getting a degree. I had put in so much effort and yet here I was, with nothing to show for it. I was unhappy and bitter.
The more I thought about it, the more I felt like I had made a mistake by going to Uni. I felt like I would have been better off without a degree.
I was so unhappy that I eventually tried to avoid my friend as I no longer felt like I could be around him, as it only made me feel worse and more bitter.