dbd33

I think you're missing the point that prom and graduation are local affectations. In many places students just stop going to school when they're no longer required to attend.

Gozit

Fair enough. Prom is a high school thing and it wasn't a particularly memorable night for me (for more reasons than one ) but college graduation when you've committed to post secondary, worked towards it and in most cases paid for it yourself you want a little bit of recognition. The online "Graduation website" is a sad attempt at that.

Do they not have graduation ceremonies for post-secondary education in the UK?

Partially discharged

I thought 'prom' was an american invention but it is omnipresent in Canada and now increasingly so in the UK...crazy parents spending way too much on their 17/18 year olds or even younger age groups. Considering how in Canada they pass you along as they don't want to face the backlash of failing a snowflake, it isn't that much of an accomplishment these days to finish high school if you put in some effort.

Former Lancastrian

Dunno never went to post secondary. Recognition is when you get a job in your field and actually hired by an employer. Having multiple degrees means nothing if you cant get a job. Oh I have a degree in basket weaving or some other artsy fartsy Arts programme good now I can apply to be a surgeon or dentist and be paid wads of money etc etc. Yes Education is important and kudos to those out there who have relevant degrees so they could follow their aspirations and get a job in their chosen employment.

Stumpylegs

Was all sounding a bit too familiar till you mentioned the pit and it went slightly too northern for me...

Gozit

I agree. Been working in my own field (IT) without a degree for almost 4 years. The diploma has been useful and taught me many different skills that I wouldn't otherwise have though. The grad ceremony is something I definitely feel entitled to after all the all nighters studying, and all the $$$$ that goes into the system.

Pulaski

You have to "put in some effort" to finish high school in Canada? In the US you only seem to need to show up.

I believe about 30% of school children in the US still somehow fail to complete high school. Apprently it's then everyone's fault but their own when they can't find any sort of steady employment. But would you employ someone who can't even show a satisfactory track record of "just showing up?

scrubbedexpat091

I never found high school easy, and took a lot of effort to get through it. We all have different abilities, so what seems easy for some is difficult for others. Granted some just don't even try, but at least I can say I tried the hardest I could to get good grades, skipped all the fun stuff in high school to study on weekends, and still barely managed to graduate with a C average.

It's apparently even more difficult now at least in the school district I went to, my nieces and nephews have to quite a lot just to graduate, in addition to volunteering X amount of hours there is also an exit exam, neither of which existed in 1997, but if I had to pass an exit exam, I doubt I would have graduated high school.

But then I also have a learning disability and was given no supports for it, so really managing a C average was quite an accomplishment for myself.

I didn't pass the essay test for graduation until grade 12, and even then just barely, they gave 4 chances between grade 9 and 12 to pass, that test was required pass in addition to have at least a 1.0 GPA which is a D-, but I was 2.84 with is a high C GPA, but I did the very best I could, and nobody can say I didn't try....

But it did keep me from college, you can't really be successful in college with a learning disability and low GPA when nearly everything is competitive based for entry these days.

If I just showed up, I would have failed and not graduated which was my sisters method, but she did buckle down the last years and graduated but had to make up grade 9 and 10 in summer school and attending 0 and 7th period on top of the normal 2 to 6 period classes, so she was in school 7am to 4pm vs 8am to 2:40pm.

spouse of scouse

Yes, it's shit when you can't do what you want to. I'd say that since the start of this pandemic most of us, including me, have had to give up things that are very precious and immensely important to us, moments that we'll never get back. I believe it's how we react, and act, in the face of these losses that defines us.

caretaker

I spent my grad weekend playing war games in valiant defense of my country. I was short one credit to graduate and didn't get it until mid-summer when I came in and asked for it (a story in itself). When I got back from the scheme and got the stories from everyone it sounded like drinking was the main thing at grad, and I'm sure I had a lot more fun.

scrubbedexpat091

I picked up a shift at work to make some money...ha ha

dbd33

I don't know, I don't have much formal education That's why I'm in the computer business.

scrubbedexpat091

And how you end up with baristas with bachelors and masters and sometimes higher degrees who find their rather useless in the world degree isn't a skill. Somewhere along the line degree and skill became confused as being the same, which its not, someone with a bachelors degree isn't necessarily more skilled than someone without, and possibly not better educated either, one can be educated and have knowledge without ever stepping foot on a university campus.

My wife is friends with someone who has a PhD in a rather useless subject and complains how she can't find a job despite her education level, equating having a PhD with having a skill. She also never actually worked a job in her life yet, she was in school from 20-35 courtesy of her wealthy parents, and is back in school because she can't find a job, if I had rich parents who would have funded my lifestyle, I would never have left school either i suppose.

Pulaski

A few years ago I was interviewig to fill some positions on my team, and my employer set "having a bachelor's degree" as one of the base level requirements. I struggled to find enough people to interview based on their applications and résumés, as easily half of them couldn't string words together to make a grammatical sentence. Most of the interviews did not go well, and the hiring process became an almost continous grind. One of the batches of applicants I offered interviews to were holders of MBAs - I hoped that they would have been better edicated and more useful. They weren't! So I added "MBA" to the list of qualities that had no predictive value on how an applicant might perform in their interview.

In the end I mostly ended up hiring people who were "sharp" - bright, and inquisitive, and willing to learn, because I very soon discovered that the people I thought I was looking for didn't really exist.

I did find one stunningly good applicant who was working to complete his PhD, but his skills were a much better fit for another team and I was able to get another manager to interview him, which led to a job offer.

Shard

What's her useless PhD subject?

I always feel a bit sorry for the proverbial barrista with a PhD. Although, there is the irony that if they are astute enough to get a PhD, they ought to be aware of whether it has any relevance to employability. The university system is partially to blame too, it has its own vested interests in churning out PhDs.