College: Was It Worth It?
The University of Missouri provided me with four of the best years of my life. My time in Columbia, MO is something I would not trade for anything and chances are, any college grad will tell you the same thing in hindsight. This is not to say that there were not bad days, challenges and hard classes that I didn’t want to go to. College is hard and college is expensive; end of story. My generation is seeing a paradigm shift in the world of education losing its intrinsic value. For a long time, going to college was your best option if you could afford it. Now, I am not so sure. I went through college going through the motions to get a degree: I worked hard, went to class, had two jobs at some times and was also lucky enough to get support from my parents who valued their education as well as mine. This undoubtedly formed my working habits early on, and for that I am grateful. Two years after graduation, hunting for jobs has me questioning my past steps.
I went to a private high school, graduated with 75 others who, for the most part, had sky-high aspirations to be the elite members of society (as many of their parents were). This included doctors, lawyers, engineers, salesmen and those who truly had the shark mentality in the professional world. This meant that going to college after high school was absolutely the only option we saw as viable. In fact, aside from my religious classmates who went to evangelize for a year or two, I cannot think of a single one of my classmates that didn’t go to college three months after high school graduation. While some may see the benefit of having smart, level-headed classmates as an example to follow, that put an immense amount of pressure on those of us who felt college may not be the option, at least right away. Nowadays, with college being a massive investment, who could fault us for taking a step back to reevaluate our life trajectory? No one, but it was an issue of pride.
The question I still despise to this day is “what do you want to do?” I would get shifty, flustered and defensive when asked that. Why? I had no idea. My hobbies always drove me, not my career aspirations. This meant I needed to make a course correction and fast. Now that my time there is in the rear-view, I have 4 pieces of advice to my past self.
Before going to college, you need a general idea of what you want to do. This is the one piece of advice I would give 17 year old me. You need at least 70% of an idea of what you want to do before making the leap. Not only that, you need reasons why. Where can you be in 10 years, who would hire you right out of college, what skills will you leave with? College is no longer the intellectual playground that it used to be; YOU NEED A PLAN.
If having an education is important to you, but you still have no plan… major in investments, finance or something related to computers. These fields are vague enough to give you options, but not specific enough that you are stuck with one job for life. You need to understand money before you can make it and the finance sector will teach you what you need to know to understand where the money you make is going. Computers are a good field if you have the technical aptitude to work with them. From engineering to development, everyone is hiring them now. You can work remote, have job security and reasonably make 6 figures. These can be used as a place-holder for your first year or two. If you happen to stumble on something you love even more, great. However, if you’re on this path and don’t find that passion in college, you will have a job after graduation.
Don’t go right away. Just wait. If you start later, you can be more efficient with your time, save up money working or travel before you sign your time away for four years. This one is contingent on knowing yourself well enough to know that you will go after a set amount of time. Personally, I could not have done this because I know myself well enough. If I sit down when I get home after a long day, chances are I am not getting up for another hour. Don’t lie to yourself, put pride aside and do the best thing for you.
Don’t sleep on trade school. I graduated high school in 2015. This was around the time that trade schools were experiencing large shortages of workers because everyone felt the pressure to go college instead of doing an apprenticeship. Don’t dismiss the blue collar jobs right away. Take electricians for example. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Outlook Handbook, employment of electricians is forecasted to increase faster than average, with approximately 74,100 electrician jobs being added from 2018 to 2028, an increase of roughly 10%. The national average annual wage of an electrician is $59,190. Weighing how much apprenticeship costs versus a four year degree and the debt to earnings ratio, it is clear that being an electrician, HVAC tech, or plumber is a financially sound decision contrasted that that of college. So why don’t more people in the 18-24 age range do it?
What has become very clear to me now is that college is viewed more as an experience. The partying, drinking and chaotic antics have become the “college experience”, leaving the education to fall by the wayside. I didn’t realize it during my tenure at Mizzou, but the operations of colleges are politicized and subject to the desires of the students more than anything else. College is for some, but not for all. There are an infinite amount of alternative paths you can take to be successful. Find the one that makes sense for your situation. Set goals, be smart and push your ego and preconceived notions aside.