If my kids choose not to go to college, I might be more proud of them that way. If you’re shocked and appalled, bear with me here…
My husband and I have been talking about the value of trade schools. We’ve been talking about them in the sense that we’d like to encourage our future kids to consider a trade school if it makes more sense. More generally, we were talking about how great it would be for the general public to stop devaluing the path to a well-paying blue collar job instead of glorifying a debt-laden education.
It’s not like we plan on being anti-college, no, we just want them to be reasonable in making a life that will be fruitful.
More specifically, this topic came up after discussing that it has come to our attention that a good portion of our friends are either buried under student loans (and deciding to continue to pile it on with more school) and/or still relying on their parents for financial support.
From flickr user thenext28days
When I look around, I see that college has just turned into something you’re supposed to do. Furthermore, the more prestigious the college, the more you feel pressured to go because “you should” even if it means dumping on more loans. “Don’t worry,” you’ll hear, “It’ll work itself out,” or “There are so many scholarships,” or “You really can’t put a price tag on the experience you’ll get…”
Bullshit…I mean, let’s be real:
- Tons of people you know aren’t using their degrees
- You know someone who chose a more expensive school for virtually the same education
- It will be years and years before your graduating class pays off their student loans
- Lot’s of people don’t know what to do next…
I like to think that if my college fund had never been set-up, that I would have opted for a more affordable certification that I could have paid for by working a part-time job and could complete in a couple of years. But who really knows.
I’ve been sitting on this topic for awhile, but what really made me want to share is the man who really knows what it’s like to work just about every dirty job, Mike Rowe. I may or may not have fallen a little more in love with him and my Ford F-150. In this interview with reason.tv, he talks about the need for work ethic in the coming generations and a push in trade schools.
Okay, it’s a 40 min interview. The meat of his points are in the first 15-20 min…but I felt it the whole thing was worth the time. Plus, he’s hilarious and honest.
He says that recent advice to “follow your passion” is terrible – that there’s a difference between being a passionate person and working with your passion.
“I get hundreds of letters a week from parents whose beautifully educated snowflakes are back home sleeping on their sofa.”
Watch it. And think about what you want your kids to value when they begin to make their way to the workforce.
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