Don't go to college out of fear.
Many students attend college out of fear. That is the base root, the motivation, for them to attend college because they don't want to be a "factory worker" or "burger flipper". There is nothing wrong with wanting things for the best, but attending college just because everyone else is doing it is not an informative choice.
And because of fear. Fear of not getting a good job. Fear of not getting the same success as your friends.
I can't recall how many times young people say “I just don't know what to do with my life ... college seems to be the best place to find it”. Where did they get this fallacious idea from? Teachers. Duh. It seems to be an awfully expensive place to find what you want to do with your life. Once I found my purpose in life while staring at the ceiling in the public library. Seriously, if you want to find out what your purpose in life is, you need solitude. Think hard what you want to do, and not be distracted in a class room with other students who don't know what to do with their lives.
College is the "in" thing to do nowadays, even though a $40,000 investment may not yield positive return in the future. Yes, so called "studies" have shown the college graduates earn more then high school graduates. What the study omit is that college graduates spend at least half a decade paying off the debt. Some fail to get a job at their field, and end up working low paying jobs in unrelated fields, so it may even take longer then a decade to pay off the debt. Imagine that! You haven't even started your “adult” life yet and you're knee deep in debt.
Think most people fail to remember that college is a place for higher learning. As in really think critically and not just an employment training center. Of course there is nothing wrong with sharpening your skills for the job market, but going to university just to get a “good” job that you're not too passionate about is a grave mistake. A costly one, too.
College is great, however, if you're going to become an engineer, teacher, doctor or lawyer. A degree is necessary, but for the rest of the young adults its best to save from getting into debt by NOT attending college. If you want to become an artist, you do not go to university. You attend an art school where you get hands on classes. Nor do you want to attend university for drama or learning half baked literature. Get the point here? Only attend college if you absolutely require a degree to practice medicine, law, education etc. Attending college won't guarantee you a job, that's a fact.
If you want to go into business, run your own business. If you want to be an artist, start painting and designing. If you want to be a journalist, start writing. People with exceptional skills aren't created in class rooms, but rather from real experience out there in the “real world”. (Where did you think the expression real world came from? Teachers. Because most class room work is akin to playing fantasy games)
Besides, do you really want to become a life long wage slave? Or would you be your own boss and work whenever you want? Don't attend college because its something to “fall” back to, its fear based thinking. Go to college only if you really want to learn. But then again, going to the library is free. Remember, going to college to meet “new” and “interesting” people is really a dumb idea. First off, they're generally in the same age group as you. More or less the same people you meet know in high school.
If you want to meet new and interesting people, it happens in the street. The business man who runs his own franchise, the harden soldier who have been in wars, the Yoga teacher from India, the singer in a local band. You will learn new things from these people, whereas all the high school graduates you meet in college are more or less then same (in terms of life progress). You want to meet people who seen and lived life, as oppose to those who are shelter in school from the “real world”.
By consciously making the decision not to attend to college and going against the fear based thinking is a very hard thing to do. In fact, most average people just follow the herd and enroll into college. Follow the social script and be a good obedient human.
Are you courageous? Are you brave? Do you have the inner self reliance to trust yourself that you will have a “successful” life without a college degree? Do you have the self motivation to work on your dream goals while making a good living at it? If the answer is yes, skip college and go into business yourself.
If you're about to graduate high school, I recommend you take a year off after high school graduation (take a job, travel, whatever) and think hard before investing $40,000 and four years. Take a year or two off to take a stab at pursuing your passion. Don't give in to social conditioning! So take a day -- or week -- to really reflect. Is it a wise investment of $40,000 plus four years of your life for a "job"? Even if there is no guarantee and fierce competition?
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