I feel like I have failed

@anon301

Hey anon, I'm fairly new to these forums myself, I'm not sure what's considered innapropriate, so please take what I say with a grain of salt. It's my tendency to say exactly what I think.

Finding a path/ career is something I've struggled with for the better part of 8 years. I wont ask your age but I'll go under the assumption that you're in your early 20s.

Let's start with the first point, you applied for several positions related to graphic design (at least I assume that's what you meant) but didn't have much luck.
As a reaction, you decided to supplement and polish your skillset and try again. I would argue that this was good, as you were being proactive, and trying to do something to change the situation.
I feel that getting rejected by an employer or anyone else is obviously difficult, and while stopping to analyze what went ''wrong'' and trying to consider what you could do to improve your chances of success are good things, diminishing your own effort is not.

Sure, you could view the degree as ''useless'' if it doesn't immediatly land you a job.
But have you tried thinking along the lines of ''well, at least I've learned something, and pursued something I'm passionate about.''
Experience is in my opinion always valuable. Even failure. What can you learn from failure? How can you better react to it?

Have you considered the amount of competition in the field?

I would suggest that maybe it wasn't that the other candidates were ''better'' but rather a ''better fit.''
Maybe that sounds contradictory, but the distinction is important to me at least.
The fact that you got called to interviews is likely an indication that they were happy with your portfolio/ resumé. So have more confidence in your work!

Another point I'd like to make is maybe try lowering your expectations, and don't be in such a hurry!
A lot of young people (myself included) stress out if they don't land their dream job/ position straight out of university. It's easy to compare yourself with the most successful people, or your ideal situation. But seldom do we consider that (according to some sources) only about 2% of people lead a truly successful career. Does that mean we give up on our dreams? No, of course not. But we should be more accepting of failure, and grateful for the opportunity to try again.

To try to sum things up, in my opinion you shouldn't consider your degree useless, knowledge is power (and it's fun to know stuff!) The design field is broad and there are always positions available, it is highly competitive though, so don't get discouraged when you don't land a job. There are likely thousands of other designers in your position. Of course, I would always encourage self improvement as long as it's healthy. Work on your portfolio, but only as long as it isn't causing you emotional damage. (Some stress is good.)
Based on the fact that you were called to interview, I'd say employers saw potential in your portfolio, so maybe you could improve in other areas?
Keep your chin up, shoulders back and take every challenge head on. Best of luck to you.