My view is, it's useless, it always has been UNLESS - and this is important, unless you want to chase an Ivory Tower life.
I know a few people who do and worship their degrees as if it was religion.
My best friend and I once went over an associate's house of mine. And I saw an altar setup not for the dead, but for a piece of paper that was the degree.
That was a startling experience for me.
If I gave you the answer on what you could do, you would never learn to think for yourself. That's why I believe not just me, but many others, like a loving father and mother, they would give you a mold, you learn to make your own instead of "do this, do that, step by step" like the usual "make a doctor out of it" or something of that sort.
Sure, I am definitely wrong if you plan on pursuing a job. If so, by all means, go to college, work hard, and good luck. It might help.
edit - I added the below as I realized that people are going to college to make money. Not "oh I love science, I love it, absolutely do, I will die for it and die for it more if science is not given to me!" It's really too bad that passion is not pushed more in today's society.
My own little note, sometime life feels so good, makes me wonder... must be a dream. Must be a dream...
Heh anyway, might get offtopic a bit here and there but the point is that it doesn't matter what you have, all the degrees in the world won't help if you don't do it, if you don't put the effort required to succeed and reach your goal, whatever it may be. And having no degree at all, in fact, having no schooling in your life is good. It helps makes you think creatively, imaginatively, forces you to succeed in ways no other form of discipline can.
And usually after you succeed or are your way there, it gets much easier. You spend more time with yourself or your family, more free times to play games or have fun with chicks.
Here's the way I see it.
I believe opportunities are everywhere, one just has to look. It's really right underneath your nose.
Sadly and unfortunately, most people don't look. They never will. It's too hard. It's tiring.
It's tiring but opportunities are everywhere, some going "take this chance, take this risk, just do it", and some opportunities dressed up as a homeless and probably smells.
So people don't succeed or ever reach their goal and wonder, "why am I not successful? I have a Masters" or "hm... why am I in debt?"
Wait, no. Scratch that. They don't even take the time to sit down and think. Most people I know just think at best, "damnit, debt" and they work work work, then watch TV, read the newspaper or the latest gossip magazine, and then more TV.
You ever heard of the saying, when a person sees the bill, and screams, "IT'S HERE! IT'S HERE!"
We have trillions and trillions of dollars (and more by the way) looking for a wallet to sit comfortably and warmly in but it's lost or getting taken by someone who wants it all
And these are the "someone" we work for. Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Charles Schwab (by the way, did you know he had ADHD?; google it), STR8UP, Richard Branson, Barbara Corcoran, etcetc.
Oh and let's not forget Donald Trump, Ingvar Kamprad, Thomas Edison, and more.. More than I can list. The people we work for, people who usually have no high school degree or college degree or had a liberal degree.
There's more than enough money for everyone, more than trillions, we can make more, while still keeping the value of it (IMO).
Not that working for someone is bad, it's just that when you are at the mercy of that person, it isn't so good unless of course, I've always believed, the job you do makes you feel as who you are, defines who you are, etcetc, then go ahead, keep at it at your job.
Einstein made himself a name and several other greatest inventors, they had no need for money except what was given to them just enough.
I can't tell you how to find opportunities, only you can do that, use your brain.
I can't take an opportunity and say, "this is a good business", you might not agree.
Next time you use a product and don't like it, well, there's an opportunity for you to change it.
Next time you're unsatisfied with the traffic, there's an opportunity.
Who knows, maybe you can invent the flying car that was due last 10 freaking years (when I was little I used to read those science magazines, WHERE'S MY FLYING CAR?!? It's long overdue.).
Anyway, that's a few of my view on opportunity.
In the Industrial Age, all you had to do was to work for 3-5 hours (I believe around there) and do your job good, as time grew, as opportunity became more obvious that it's everywhere with new invention and new ideas coming out (from movies, books, games, etcetc), today we work longer hours for less pay as opposed to back then.
It is no longer true that you could just work 4 hours and still pay for your bills and spend time with yourself or your family.
Today when you get laid off, and it's so easy to get laid off, it isn't because the economy sucks or because someone just felt like firing you when he got up in the morning.
It's because of what economist call structural unemployment (I read many many many books on economy, just a little note, there's more than this).
It's because somewhere in this world where the person gets laid off, it's because there's an introduction of changes in technology or invention or the way they do things.
For example, robots in Asia, no longer do we have to rely on humans to lift things up and bring it from one place to another, when robots were introduced, they could do just it just as well and do it longer, laying off the humans who once did it. Why hire a human when you can invest in a robot who can do the job forever and do it better than the human. Faster, smarter, and more efficient.
Another example, instead of CD players, now we use MP3 players, what happens to those who make CD? They get laid off because their company decides to make MP3 player and they feel you are not qualified to make MP3 player's components, even if you could they feel they have someone else who captured this opportunity and makes it better. It happens. That's when you decide to go back to college for it.
Another example, the product you're making is no longer being demanded by your customers, thus you can't fill a certain quota in your company and viola, you get fired.
Another way to view and find opportunities is asking yourself, "what do people want?"
This way you can find the opportunity and capture it first before it becomes a huge hit.
For example, if you work for a phone company making phones if you captured the opportunity, you could've asked "how do I make this better...?" and then perhaps out of the ordinary you decide to quit and create a cell phone company and viola, you're now one of the first in this business and people will remember you for this.
"Sifer invented cell phone because wired phones sucks."
I believe and I know anyone and everyone can do it, no matter what the condition is (unless you are mentally ill or brain damaged; in that case, you shouldn't be able to read all of this...).
I've seen homeless get sick of being homeless and got up and took one week of his time and literally become a millionaire overnight.
I've also seen people sign a few papers and instantly turn poor in a few seconds.
There's always someone getting rich and there's always someone getting poor.
It isn't about how much you make, it isn't even about if you have a job or not.
Income does not create wealth. Having more money will not make you rich.
It is all about what you do when you have no money.
And when you do get the money one way or another, it is what you do with it.
Do you pay yourself first or do you pay your bills first and then buy useless things?
It's the sad part of life that people think they can avoid the rat race when they say "if I just make more money".
And when they do get in it, they're trapped, when they start having kid(s), when they get married, when they have to pay off debts (owing money to parents, college, etcetc) and when you get a car or two.
I can always learn if a person is going to be a millionaire or not by asking these questions. Several thoughts process my mind and I instantly get the answer "he'll make it" or "he won't make it".
1 - Do you pay yourself first?
2 - Are you social and open minded?
3 - Do you know your spending habit?
4 - Do you own your own home?
5 - Do you donate or give charity?
Without getting too political, why the gov't doesn't teach you how to get wealthy is because of many many reasons.
For example, if you're rich, you won't have to pay tax. Why? You already know the tax and the left and right of it. You can avoid (not evade, stupid) paying tax.
How will the gov't make money?
Taxing people is one of the best way to get rich, as good as winning the lottery.
Like Napolean Hill's Think and Grow Rich and I, I think that all school should be teaching wealth and richness, and that classes would take only 1 year.
And you're done! By the time you graduate, I think you should get out there and start doing what you want to do, be it being schooled (not the same as education but that's for another topic all together) or open your own business.