I Lost My Master’s Degree in One Night

I tried to protect a friend from being bullied by telling the truth (though I didn’t actually know the truth). As a result, my degrees were revoked by the universities I graduated from.

I lost not only my Master’s degree but every degree and certificate that confirmed my capabilities for over ten years. I lost those papers in one night. I turned to the friend I helped and asked myself how I could live my life after losing all those documents of affirmation.

I cried, then WOKE UP.

Yes, this was the dream I had most recently. The dream left me with a valuable feeling and question: Feeling lost, asking myself, “how can I live my life without the degrees?”

I realized that I had clung to those papers for over ten years without believing in myself from within. My subconsciousness still has some lingering self-doubt based on the question I asked myself. Or was living in the United States trying to tell me something?

How can I live my life without degrees?

Here was my answer:

‘Aun, I know you were told that getting a degree, especially the Master’s, would help you achieve and succeed. You had been taught to expect that being the best would make you stand out.

But, hey, life is not always that way after all. You already knew it from your eyes, ears, and heart. But the problem is you still need to accept that you cannot be the best. NO ONE CAN — AT LEAST NOT FOREVER.

I do not mean that education is not essential. IT IS! But believing that you are capable is more important than having a paper to reassure you that you are. What you learn will be with you, within you for good, not the paper. So, I am so proud of you that you helped your friend. You chose friendship, humanity, kindness, and empathy over those illusory papers and prestige. If the degrees were ever to be revoked in reality, know that it does not matter at all. You will lose only the paper. That’s it, as long as you still believe in yourself.’

Don’t cling to what people tell you. Believe in yourself and cling to that instead.

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This post was previously published on medium.com.

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