If a girl wants to drop out of school

By Stela, 32, Bulgaria via UN Volunteers

In my life, I was taught that education is the key to success. That education is a precious gift that should not be wasted. That education will open my mind to things I could have never imagined. I am sure they told you the same.

What no one told us is that you will have to sit hours and hours in a lecture, you have to do homework, projects and thesis, that you will have to be early to class, that you have to sacrifice time and some of the things you love and most painful of all, accumulate student debt.

Is education really worth all that? My answer is yes. Yes, education is worth all that. Think of it this way, education gives us the opportunity to understand the world system we live in, education helps us interact with people in our society and education is needed to make the world move forward. You are what it takes to make the world move forward.

If you are thinking of quitting, ask yourself why. Is quitting beneficial to you in the long term, because believe me, education has long lasting benefits. Are you thinking of quitting because you do not like your school or maybe because everyone else is quitting, or do you want to quit so that you can marry or work on your career, maybe you can you no longer afford tuition, are you willing to work hard to get a scholarship?

To be honest, there are many reasons you can find to quit school but it is really up to you to stick it out until you graduate.  Life is about management, learn to manage your time and look around, there are many people who are balancing work and school. Education really never ends but it doesn’t take forever to get your certificate.

If you have already quit, do not feel shy to go back to school. With education, it is never too late. Treasure your education.



ABOUT STELA

Stela Koleva is a Bulgarian living in the beautiful city of Prague (Czech Republic), where she moved to 7 years ago. Here she is working as manager of 3 international IT Professional Services teams in Concur – an American SaaS company.

Passionate about leading and developing people and high-performing teams, Stela is mentoring and coaching many of the young leaders in her organization and acting as a VP of Membership for the local Toastmasters club.

In her free time Stela is working on her masters degree in General Management from the IUBH School of Business and Management (Bonn, Germany) which she plans to complete in June, 2015. When Stela is not studying, she enjoys travelling, reading and participating in marathons.