I’ve personally always felt that the greatest value of a university education wasn’t so much in the careers that would become available to you as a result, but rather the network of friends that you develop, the expansion of your horizons, and the renewed perspective that can be gained with a proper education. There’s nothing wrong with going in trades or earning some other certification, but the enlightening experience at university simply cannot be matched.

They’ve said for a while now that university graduates earn significantly more than their non-university counterparts, but I think that this data could be largely skewed by the mega-earners in the bunch, like those who go on to become high-powered lawyers, doctors, and accountants. This might be the case, but the numbers are certainly convincing.

Granted, this data is from a 2001 Canada census, so it’s not the freshest information, but it gives you some perspective:

* Less than high school graduation certificate $21.230
* High school graduation certificate and/or some postsecondary $25,477
* Trades certificate or diploma $32,743
* College certificate or diploma $32,736
* University certificate, diploma or degree $48,648

Look at that jump! Comparing a college certificate or a trades diploma against a university degree, you find that the average annual earnings of the latter is 150% of the former. Surely, there are folks without university degrees that earn lots of money (John Chow, for example), but they are the exception, rather than the rule.

The take home message — and this is appropriate given that it’s the first week of September — is stay in school!

I figured I would keep it light today as it is a Holiday and just post a cartoon by Clay Bennett.

 

What does Labor Day mean to you?

First off, I’d like to wish a happy Labour Day to all my fellow Canadians and a happy Labor Day to our neighbours to the South. Is there a Labo(u)r Day in Europe or Asia? Anyways, on with this week’s gadget.

I’m pretty sure you’ve noticed that today’s professional is much more mobile than ever before. Between carrying around a PDA phone, a laptop, and a personal GPS device, today’s business professional seems to carry his office in his briefcase!

In an ongoing effort to stay mobile, here is the OpticSlim M12 Plus, a mobile scanner from the people at Plustek. There’s no need to lug around a huge flatbed scanner with you everywhere you go. The OpticSlim M12 Plus will accept any standard-sized document and output to your computer as a PDF file. It’s a great accompaniment to any notebook computer, further expanding your productivity on the go.

It’s also notable because it comes with 177 language OCR support. When you scan a document, it has the ability — presumably from a software standpoint — to recognize text, allowing you to do everything that you would normally be able to do with text on your computer.

Retail price is about $150-$200.

This weeks back to school questions are:

1. What does BCIT stand for?
2. What University did Facebook start out of?
3. What province is SAIT in?
4. What city is UOIT in?
5. What province is SIAST in?

I was recently listening to a speaker who told a story about walking along a beach where he found a cement block with a metal loop sticking out of it. He later found out this is an anchor placed near the shore so boaters can prevent from being set adrift. The speaker went on to ask about what is your anchor?

He mentioned that most things in our life will come and go and that we should all have an anchor. I think my anchor is my family. They keep me rooted in the real world and bring an endless amount of enjoyment and excitement.

What is your anchor?