As a young person, college is something that is expected of me. I knew I was going to go to college ever since I was about five years old. My mom did it, my dad did it, and in fact so did all of the adults that I knew.
College, to a Child
So as a five year old, I was already convinced I was going to go to college, and that I was going to skip the last two years of high school to do it (in the PSEO program). Over the years, I learned more about college. I learned that it was the next step after high school, and that it was basically school for adults.
I learned from my parents that college was how you ensure a better future, and how you get jobs. I learned that if you didn’t go to college, you wouldn’t be able to get a good job. You may not even be able to get any job at all.
Everyone Likes to Give Advice
Problem is, some of the things I learned were wrong. College wasn’t what gave my parents a good life– it was hard work, determination, and the ability to look themselves in the mirror at the end of the day, no matter what other people thought of what they did for a living.
My parents were both college-educated folks, working jobs that required no college education to be hired or be more successful than others. My father, with a bachelor’s degree in international relations, was the assistant manager of a Burger King for two decades– all of my growing up years. My mother, with a triple master’s in biology, sociology, and anthropology, had a less linear path, working here and there as an Avon lady, receptionist, and other things to supplement my father’s income.
Why did they tell me that college was so important? They never used their degrees, and they were paying on student loans for over a decade after finishing school. Yet they were adamant that college was the path to a better life.
Real Reason for Schooling
My mom recently went back to school, this time getting her boilers license. She is now using it to make more money, and get out of a retail job. This was a credential that she can and will use, and I am beaming with pride.
She has found something that she doesn’t mind, and that will make her more money than she ever has. She will be using this schooling to move herself up in her life, and that’s what getting a degree or certification is really about.
Strangers and Small Talk
As a young person. It seems like older adults are interested in one thing, “Are you going to school?” I find it funny how complete strangers in an elevator having nothing to talk about ask immediately about your student status instead of say, the weather or a trending news piece.
Many people disregard that someone’s decision to be a student or not is a personal choice, and often have absolutely nothing to say to someone that says, “no, I’m not in school now.”
Many even completely skip this step, asking not if you’re going to school, but rather, “Which school are you going to?” I’m sure I don’t need to explain why this is going a bit too far with the college assumption.
I Must be Weird
I don’t want to get a degree in upside-down speed reading, putting my life on pause for a couple years only to go back to my day job once I’m done.
I did “go to college”. Once I got there, I realized why I was there. I didn’t end up in college because I knew what I wanted to be and this was how to achieve it, and I didn’t go because I really wanted to be taking more classes to build on what I had learned in high school. I went to college simply because it was what I was supposed to do. It was expected of me by my parents, teachers, peers and friends. I stayed one semester.
I am a Student of Life, not University
Today, I am one of the very few of my peers that I know of who is not in college. Many people I spent time with in the past are very surprised at this fact when we catch up, but I don’t want to make my parents’ mistakes.
I’m not interested in accumulating thousands of dollars worth of debt for a degree that I never use, simply to say that I have one. If, in the future, you see me on the college scene, rest assured that I will be there because I know what I want and am doing what it takes to get there.
