I am a person who loves learning and consider myself a perpetual student. My husband says that I will be 90 years old walking the aisle with my 15th degree but I don’t do it for the letters behind my name, I don’t do it for prestige (pleassssse) and I certainly haven’t done it because I would be bringing home the Benjamins. So some say, why the heck do it?

Everyone has their reasons. For me, I love to read, I love being challenged, I love writing, I love introduction of new ideas and trends and love to examine how they impact my faith journey. I know that some people are impressed by titles (although that population continues to decrease), I am not one of them. As a matter of fact, I get really turned off by folks who demand you call them by their titles. You know, Rev. Dr. Pastor so and so, Grand Bishop Rev. Dr. Pastor, you get my drift. My policy is to introduce folks with their titles in public gatherings but if I see you at the mall or something, I don’t think I should have to say “Hey, Rev. Dr. George how you doing?” unless there is an informal relationship. Anyway, I bring this all up because I was looking for something online and google took me to this post when then led to this post.  So on reading that here’s my two cents…

1. I think that some people are driven by competition…if that person got her doctorate I need to go get mine–WRONG REASON

2. I know I’ll get more respect and credibility –WRONG REASON - this may or may not happen

3. I will be able to earn more money and have a better pick of jobs–not necessarily a wrong reason but perhaps a bit optimistic. My experience and those of many I know suggest that opportunities (aside from God “open door” miracles) are what you create for yourself.

4. The letters after my name, the titles before my name will make me appear important and knowledgable. WRONG REASON…key word here is “appear”. We’ve all met “super dummies”, “emotional midgets”, “highly self-engaged” folk with letters and titles and I for one haven’t liked them all that much. Ugh!

 With all that, I still think any academic road one chooses to follow takes time and dedication. Sure, some folks due to schools who value their reputations as being high in standards academically may make their students go through gruelling exercises of no real value and maybe some that do have real value while others may not have to sweat at all but regardless, those folks paid $, took time away from family, work, etc. to put some new information in their brains and hopefully put it to good use. So I say, they all matter depending on what you want to do in the future i.e. teach, write a book, become a pastor or marketplace leader and I say get a life to those who have to judge any of the options for a terminal degree one takes.