Back in August, I received a request from the
university where I finally completed my Bachelor’s degree to fill out a survey
on the benefits of my education from their institution. How has this education
benefitted your career? Or how has it helped you to obtain a graduate degree?
--- the survey asked.
In truth, I have used my education to neither of
those ends. A result of a combination of both circumstance and choice, I
suppose. Below is the letter I could not fit in the survey to my undergraduate
degree-granting institution.
Dear University,
I was a transfer student to your school from two
different universities in Louisiana and a community college in Asheville, NC
before completing my degree in your halls. I was 25 when I entered your school
and had been working my way through college. I still have over $20,000 in
student loans to pay down. I was determined that my education should count for
something since I had worked so hard to achieve it but as it turns out – 6 years
later – it was really just a neat experience. I studied in China, learned
Mandarin; I studied in India, learned Hindi.
The map below is what I have achieved since
graduation. It is my resume.
Blue
Line: Chapel Hill, NC to Seattle, WA –
2009
Red
Line: Seattle, WA to New Orleans, LA –
2011
Black
Line: New Orleans, LA to Keswick, VA –
2013
This is
how I have applied my degree in Asian Studies & Political Science: I packed it into a car with my dog and hit the
American Road. I have completed one giant circuitous journey around the country
beginning in the Spring of 2009 - meeting and working with a wide array of
people in various jobs along the way. And ending in the Summer of 2013 with the
request to complete a survey regarding the value of my university education.
I hope
that this information will be useful for your future students.
Warm
Regards,
Kerin Leche
Class of
December 2007
