“If I had to pick between my two degrees and my husband, I’d choose my husband any day. Being his wife is my greatest accomplishment.”
I recently found myself in a minor internet war with other women over this comment I made.
Here is a list of some of the not-so-nice replies I received from it:
“I’m so embarrassed for you.”
“This is the saddest thing I have heard in a while.”
“Setting women back.”
“Seek help.”
For many Gen Z women, being married and starting a family is less likely to be seen as an accomplishment and more likely to be seen as a hindrance to true success. In a recent NBC News Decision Desk Poll, females aged eighteen through twenty-nine were asked to rank what is important to their personal definition of success. The number-one choice was “having a job or career you find fulfilling,” and number two was “having enough money to do the things you want to do.” Marriage ranked eleventh.
To them, if something gets in the way of a great career and financial success (which marriage and children can do), then it’s something to be avoided at all costs. If it assists in accomplishing these goals, it should be pursued.
That’s where we find these women who believe graduating with a Bachelor’s degree is a much greater accomplishment than finding a good husband. But as a Gen Z woman, I could not disagree more.
Don’t get me wrong—I’m grateful for my college education. But the value of education can’t be compared to the value of a good spouse and marriage.
Like many people, my decision to go to college was an investment made for a future career—a career that was not intended to change the world or save millions of lives, but to pay the bills and leave me contented at the end of the day.
When I decided to get married, however, I didn’t see it as an investment opportunity, but as my path to heaven. A path that not only I could walk, but also my husband and all the subsequent generations created from our union.
This is what makes marriage so invaluable: not only will it transform you, but it can lead to the existence of an entirely new generation. A generation that, if formed with love, will do far greater good for the world than any college degree could. (Because let’s be honest: most people will not make Nobel-prize worthy discoveries with their college degrees.)
If I were asked to forfeit my degree for my husband, and that meant working a minimum-wage job in a fast-food drive-thru, so be it. I vowed, “for richer, for poorer.” Many of my Gen Z peers would hesitate though—since true success for them is not found in the loving embrace of a good spouse, but in a fulfilling career and overflowing bank account.
As for me, I’ll stick to the wisdom of Scripture: “A good wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels” (Prov. 31:10).