B.a. Pass -2012- Apr 2026

It is the sound of the

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.

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. 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.

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

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.

That piece of paper isn't proof of a narrow expertise. It’s proof that you showed up, that you endured four years of general requirements, that you finished what you started even when nobody was cheering for the “general” track. We were the backups

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

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.”