Graduation speeches and ceremonies are so fucking cringe. We're out here throwing parties for racking up 60-100k in student loans?? What the hell are we cheering for?
"The hard work"? Come on man, most colleges just hand you a syllabus and a book and say read it. That's 90% of the "education." The ones who actually make it are usually self-taught anyway.
If you graduate without 5 solid real world professional projects in your portfolio, there's nothing to celebrate. That's why so many drop out once they see how rigged it is.
Nobody cares about that fancy paper. Tech hires for what you can ship, real apps, features, fixes that people use. Self-taught grinders who build in public and drop quality work smoke most grads. Medicine needs the degree, sure. Most tech? The game changed.
Skip the cap and gown bullshit. Just get good and prove it.