Thursday, November 03, 2011

Uni degrees: What are they really?

Ok. I've almost finished my B Science in IT. I originally planned to finish last year, but I started a 1 year cadetship last August. Which then stretched my expected finishing date to end of this year. Then I encountered a horror subject in Image Processing and Pattern Recognition, which I've effectively dropped. So now I'm heading into my 5th year of uni.
My cadetship made me question a lot of things. My views on SQL development and the merits of a university education being the two big ones. I was brought up to believe that universities offered a more superior learning experience to TAFE and other technical colleges. That opinion lasted until a few months into my cadetship. I discovered very quickly that the stuff that I had learnt over the past two years was largely irrelevant to my work... maybe except for what little I had learnt in Database Fundamentals. I noticed that my friends who are went to TAFE before heading to uni had better technical skills. Probably from more practical work than listening to lecturers drone for hours on end.
As I moved closer towards the end of my degree, I couldn't help but wonder: is it proof that we've got the skills that businesses would want in their organisation or is really just proof that we can put up with the nonsense that our professional lives will throw at us?

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