If you graduated in 2012—or any year, really—you know exactly what I am talking about. In the hierarchy of academic validation, the “B.A. (Pass)” sat in a strange purgatory. It wasn’t the prestigious Honours degree (the one with the thesis, the late nights in the library, and the job offer already in hand). It was the generalist’s badge. The jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none stamp on your forehead.
That kid with the First Class Honours in Philosophy? He’s a regional manager at a logistics firm. That girl with the B.A. Pass in General Studies? She runs a $2M boutique marketing agency.
Why? Because society told me that the Honours kids were the ones who changed the world. The Pass kids? We were the backups. The general admission. The substitute teachers of the professional world. b.a. pass -2012-
But a Pass student? We had to sample everything. One semester of Sociology. One semester of Renaissance Poetry. One random elective in Geology (Rocks for Jocks, we called it). We learned to switch contexts instantly. We learned that the skill isn’t knowing one thing perfectly—it’s being able to talk to anyone about anything for seven minutes. Here is the plot twist nobody tells you at 22.
— A recovering over-generalizer, c. 2012 If you graduated in 2012—or any year, really—you
Honours students go deep. They become experts in one tiny slice of history or literature. That is valuable.
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And in 2012, the world made sure you felt it. Let’s set the stage. The world was supposed to end in December (thanks, Mayan calendar). Facebook was still blue and relatively innocent. The iPhone 5 had just dropped. We were two years past the recession but still feeling the hangover. Jobs were scarce, and rent was due.
“So… what was your focus?” they’d ask. “Life,” you wanted to say. “I focused on surviving Econ 101, learning that I hate early mornings, and figuring out how to write a 10-page paper on post-colonial theory in three hours.” For the first few years after 2012, I hid that degree. I lied on resumes, stretching the “Pass” into something that sounded more like “Interdisciplinary General Studies.” It wasn’t the prestigious Honours degree (the one