In university, we often hear people saying how “useless” the curriculum is, and how little it prepares us for the workforce. I will admit, that I have been guilty of such accusations before. However, I want to also look on the other side of the picture and explore the reasons why I think we should be grateful for our university experience.

Firstly, university gives us good foundational knowledge. Often when learning technical skills or knowledge from external resouces, we get caught up in learning the so-called “new and shiny technology” (as university professors like to call it), and lose track of the fundamentals. This might cause us to learn very specific and non-transferrable skills which hinders our growth as a Software Engineer (assuming that that is our goal). However, the slightly more backward technologies used in university modules causes us to focus on the basics, and the fundamentals of how computers work, how software development works etc. This enables us to learn more transferrable skills that we can apply in a broader variety of situations in the future.

Secondly, the opportunities and resources that we are provided with in university is difficult to find outside. In university, we are given access to career counsellors, given the chance to interact with experts in specific fields (professors), we are included in the loop of the plethora of internship, attachment opportunities, hackathons, programmes etc. We might even get access to tools that are expensive to get access to outside of university. With these resources basically handed on a plate to us, it is now up to us on whether we want to take these opportunities and make full use of them.

Last but not least, the communities of people we are involved with in university is hard to find outside. Looking for a cybersecurity interest group? Looking for a bunch of AR/VR enthusiasts to embark on a project with you? Are you in a tough spot and in need of advice from seniors who went through similar situations as you? What better place to find these communities of people than at university? University is a place where everyone is there to learn and grow, and this is such an empowering environment to be in especially at the start of our careers. Even if we do not want or need to get into these communities for academic/career purposes, it is also a good place to find long lasting friendships and be with people in the same stage of life as us.

With all that being said, in terms of preparing ourselves for the workforce, relying on university (or anyone for that matter) to teach us what we need to know is definitely not the way to go. University was never meant to prepare us for work, it is meant to be an academic place, for us to learn new knowledge and skills. If we want to go into a specific industry or do a specific craft, it is still very much up to us to develop ourselves in those areas. At the end of the day, who really cares about our career or future other than ourselves?

Yeap, so in conclusion, I am thankful for this opportunity to get a university education, and will continue to strive to hone my craft at software engineering. :P