Get a degree they said, it would be helpful they said

Do not send her to Korea. The ESL fad here is cooling off in a big way. My school is going under and my girlfriend's public school hasn't paid them on time in 3 months. Also, for 99% of ESL jobs they require a college degree, if not for employability then to be taken seriously.

However, this is something that more HS kids should consider: fuck choosing a career at 17, go travel and get some meaningful experiences before you plunk down $40k in debt. Nearly all of my friends who did this, in a variety of ways, agree that it was much better than fucking around in English 101 and gaining 15 pounds.

 

The hookup she has in Korea for work is extremely legitimate - that helps a little bit. The thing I've been talking to her about is that she has options where she can stretch her wings and fly and flounder and fly again for a bit before she commits to being a full fledged working stiff grownup.

 

Neighbors

Well, Ann Hornaday wants you to know that that is all Seth Rogen's fault. But, please don't kill people.

 

With what money though? Thankfully my parents had a situation set up when it came time for college, but if they hadn't, I cant see them tossing me a couple grand to "travel" or whatnot. I think the European idea of a "gap year" is fantastic, and helps kids get more focused and mature a bit before college, but I dont know if most kids are set for that in the US either.

That's a bit obtuse. I mean, is it any different than Animal House, or Revenge of the Nerds, or any other college glorifying movie over the last 30 years?

Kids may be disappointed they aren't getting laid every weekend and their weeknights aren't a video out of a DareDorm shoot, but they can also learn that not everyone is pigeonholed from age 15-18 and they have they opportunity to do something different with their life, socially, academically, physically. There is no other time in your life where you will have the opportunity to completely reinvent yourself in an easier or low impact way than your first year of college. Moving to a new city, getting a new job, etc... are all "blank slate" opportunities later in life, but never will you find a more agile group of people in a similar boat to you than in college. Except for the idiots in HS long distance relationships and people with HS cliques carrying on to college, by and large, everyone else is as open to whatever as you are. And that is coming from someone who didn't go to a college with a very diverse student body and who, despite loving the college more than anything, had significant gripes with some of the social dynamics. But the overlying points were obvious and have increasingly become more apparent the longer I've been out.

 

I agree with some of that. But echoing my prior post, I don't know where this exploration is coming from. Looking from my suburban upbringing lens, I don't see what value going to a community college or taking time off to work would have done. Living at home stunts your social growth in that scenario. and I don't know how many jobs a newly graduated HS 18 year old kid is going to get to encourage them to go live on their own for awhile. I had a "break" semester due to some academic issues when I was in college, took classes at a CC when living at home and I can tell you the non-academic benefits I got were 1/10th of what I got away at school, if that. And I was highly motivated cause I was looking for anything to make me feel less isolated and miserable. Its just different. I'm interested to see stats (i doubt they exist) on how kids transition from CCs to 4 year institutions cause at least in the Midwest, the academic and social experiences are night and day.

I guess my point is it is much more gray than black and white. Some kids have it all together and go to college and fall apart. Some kids figure their shit out and make the most of a good situation. My biggest theme I agree with is a major that means something. Whether it be for grad school or for a career. And guidance counselors need to fully assist in that.

 

I'm a few months away from earning my B.S. in Criminal Justice and have actively been looking for work in pretty much all related fields like DHS, local and state agencies as well as fire departments.

I never finished high school because I moved after my sophomore year and just really didn't want to go back because I was a lazy shithead and decided to get my GED instead. Worked shit jobs for a while after that until I finally realized I would be spinning my wheels like that forever if I didn't do something, so I joined the Navy and left. I was in the aviation field and learned how to troubleshoot electronics which eventually got me a job at Gulfstream that I had to walk away from. I realized that even though I could make good money there, I was never really happy with what I was doing and brought back the sinking feelings every morning of waking up and not wanting to be there at all.

So I decided to go back and finish my degree and move into a field that interests me more than chasing wires ever could. Thankfully, I've been going to school using my GI Bill and haven't paid a cent in tuition at all. If I'm not able to land a job in my degree field, I have been in steady contact with military recruiters to go back active duty as an officer. Much better quality of life and MUCH better pay than being enlisted. I enjoyed my time in the military and if it hadn't been for some paperwork fuckery, I'd still be in. Worked out in the end though because now I'm extremely close to finishing something that I never thought was for me.

 

I was saying that you take kids coming from a white collar upbringing where going to college is expected, that sort of perspective is going to be skewed. Those are the kids that are going to be going to good to great schools, but potentially waste it. I'm of the camp that thinks 1) there are too many fucking colleges in general and 2) there needs to be better pre-college counseling.

I think we are both dancing around the same point. I just know kids that fall into the area that we talked about that wouldnt have had benefit. People can feel to correct me, but for a kid that is at an intelligence level that would get them into a "respected" college, I feel like the academic experience at CC wouldn't be helpful for figuring stuff out, but rather frustrating and demotivating. I went from studying a decent amount and still struggling at college academics to spending that semester at home at a CC studying literally a third as much and getting a 3.9. I wasn't motivated except for being frustrated that it wasn't a worthwhile use of my time and didn't want to end up back there. My sisters both had similar experiences, albeit while taking summer courses.

The work angle is different, but kids I know who went in that direction, whether in the service industry or whatnot, never ended up going back to school, which is fine when you're 22 but what about when you're 32. I guess I see the same immaturity that prevents kids from fully appreciating a college opportunity also preventing them from making productive use of post HS freedom as development. You made it happen, but I imagine you probably would have done the same if you went right to college.