Chapter 352: Chapter 351: Degrees Are Important
To them, all the lectures, exams, and late-night cramming were meaningless. A diploma didn’t guarantee respect, status, or even a decent paycheck. Sure, the "educated" folks liked to pretend their degree was some magical talisman... but in the real world? Degrees didn’t pay rent, didn’t fix a broken car, didn’t put food on the table. And so many of them still ended up stuck in menial jobs, barely scraping by, doing work that didn’t challenge them, didn’t inspire them, and certainly didn’t reflect the effort they had put in.
From this angle, formal education looked like a scam: you invest years of your life, swallow lectures you’ll forget, learn theories you’ll never use, all for a piece of paper that might not even get you ahead of someone who’d hustled on the streets or started working young. And to be honest, they weren’t entirely wrong. Real life had a way of exposing gaps in the system.
And in contrast, People who hadn’t even completed high school sometimes ended up with better lives... because they were out there, learning the world firsthand, picking up practical know-how, hustling in ways that school never taught them. All through real-world experience, street smarts, and sheer grit they got into positions of actual influence and wealth, even without a degree.
Most of them didn’t even recognize the difference between a top-tier university and a low-tier one. To their eyes, a diploma was a diploma, a piece of paper with fancy lettering, and that was it. Whether it came from a prestigious institution with cutting-edge research and influential alumni or some run-of-the-mill college where the curriculum was outdated and the professors half-asleep, it all looked the same.
That mindset only fueled the idea that studying was useless... why waste years memorizing theories and attending lectures if, in the end, you were just another face in the crowd, hustling for the same menial jobs as those who never stepped foot in a classroom?
But of course, beneath the smug declarations, there was something else too. A subtle, unspoken defense mechanism. Many of them were trying to cover up a sense of inferiority, to convince themselves—and everyone else—that they were somehow smarter, more "streetwise," or more capable than those who had actually committed to the grind of education.
By dismissing studying as pointless, they could pat themselves on the back for dodging the long, hard path and feel justified in their choices. "See? I didn’t waste my time. I’m doing fine without it," they told themselves, even if deep down they knew the truth.
And the more they said it, the more it became gospel. Everyone around them started repeating it, laughing knowingly, as if they’d discovered some hidden truth of life. "Look at him, four years of effort, and he’s just pushing papers. Me? I didn’t even finish high school, and I’m surviving just fine." That casual dismissal of education, so widespread and unquestioned, cemented the illusion that studying was pointless, especially for those parents with already low level of education.
And to some extent... they weren’t entirely wrong. Experience and hustle in the real world did teach skills that a lecture hall couldn’t. Some of those people went on to achieve practical success, even without formal schooling.
But the difference was the ceiling: without the right knowledge, specialization, connections, and credentials, their growth would always be limited. They could make do, but they could never dominate, innovate, or shape the future the way someone trained at a top university could.
Those who graduated from top universities, like the one he was attending now... could practically step into the upper echelons of every field imaginable. In engineering, they were the ones designing revolutionary bridges, skyscrapers, and transportation systems that transformed cities and reshaped economies.
In medicine, they were pioneering surgeons, developing life-saving techniques, or leading research teams to create vaccines and cures that saved millions. In aerospace, they were crafting spacecraft, satellites, and aviation technologies that pushed humanity farther into the stars than ever before.
They weren’t just participating in their fields... they were defining them. Cutting-edge research labs became their playgrounds, where they invented next-generation materials, artificial intelligence systems, and renewable energy solutions that could redefine global sustainability.
Some were immersed in policymaking, crafting laws and economic frameworks that influenced entire nations, improving governance and societal structures. Others were developing technologies that touched everyday life... smart devices, communication networks, and AI-driven systems that changed how people interacted with the world.
These careers didn’t just provide personal wealth, they shaped the world. They created opportunities for others, improved living standards, and offered solutions to problems that had plagued humanity for generations.
A graduate from such an institution wasn’t simply employed... they were entrusted with responsibility, influence, and the power to leave a lasting legacy. While others might toil in repetitive or meaningless stuff, these graduates held the keys to innovation, progress, and real impact, wielding knowledge as a tool to mold the future itself.
Rex had lived the painful contrast firsthand. In his past life, he had done everything "by the book" as the mediocre university demanded: attended classes, got passing grades, kept up appearances. By the time he graduated, he realized he had nothing to show for it—no real skills, no meaningful connections, no career prospects.
The diploma he held was just a piece of paper, a thin barrier between him and the world that demanded competence, experience, and results. And no decent company was willing to hire him. Eventually, he had been forced into a black company, a grind that ate his life slowly... living paycheck to paycheck, brain-numbingly monotonous work, a life barely above survival. If he hadn’t died unexpectedly, he would have been trapped in that cycle forever, a walking zombie living out a wasted potential.
And that’s why he was serious now—really serious when it really came to studying, and the only reason he still skipped a bit these days was because he was still catching up with the basics. Honestly, it didn’t matter if he missed a few lectures here and there...let’s be real, he wouldn’t understand half of them anyway without covering the foundations first. Why sit in class staring at the professor like a confused goldfish when he could be building up the groundwork on his own?
And sure, some people might say, "Come on Rex, you’ve got so much money now, why bother with all this studying?" But studying wasn’t just about money. Money could buy you comfort, sure, but it couldn’t buy you knowledge, skills, or the kind of influence that came from truly understanding how the world worked. Money could build you a house, but knowledge could build you an empire. Money could hire doctors, but knowledge could make you the one designing the cure. Money might give you power, but knowledge made sure that power lasted.
For Rex, this wasn’t just about padding his resume or impressing people at cocktail parties. This was about respect, ability, and proving... if only to himself, that he wasn’t the same guy who wasted away in a black company, half-dead and directionless. Studying was more of him redeeming himself, and this time, he was going to squeeze every drop of value from it.
(End of Chapter)