B.a. Pass -2012- Info

And these days, I wear that like a badge of honor.

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.

Honours students go deep. They become experts in one tiny slice of history or literature. That is valuable.

There is a specific, hollow sound that a degree makes when you slide it into a drawer instead of hanging it on the wall. 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.

When you don’t have a “specialty” to fall back on, you learn to build bridges. You learn sales. You learn writing. You learn how to listen in a meeting and synthesize three different arguments. You learn that “soft skills” are actually the hardest skills to teach. So, to my fellow graduates of 2012—and to anyone holding a “Pass” degree right now:

Why? Because the B.A. Pass is a degree in And these days, I wear that like a badge of honor

Mine finally came out of the drawer last year. It’s framed in my office, right next to the sales award and the photo of my kid. It’s not the fanciest frame. But the document inside?

October 11, 2023

“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.” That girl with the B

But here is what I have learned, now a decade removed from that May afternoon in the cap and gown:

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.

The Year I Almost Didn’t Frame the Degree: A Love Letter to the B.A. Pass (2012)

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.