College is heavily emphasized in our culture. Do you personally believe that without tertiary education you cannot succeed? Attending a university may seem like the only option for a rewarding career, however, college is not necessary for all professional success.
Currently 66% of jobs require a high school diploma or less. Yet many of those job opportunities are not filled because people are afraid to work blue collar jobs. Many of these are lucrative careers due to the fact that few are willing to work said jobs. But why is it so glossed over when 1 in 20 college graduates are unemployed anyways? More often than not they are one of 44.7 million Americans with student loan debt. They have spent thousands for a degree and have nothing to show for it. How are these individuals supposed to pay off their debt? Average tuition goes towards inadequate housing, cheap food, and the classes themselves. Yet still with all of these expenses, God forbid one considers community college.
The main culprit for this mentality is our society. We have schools promoting college as if it is the only option when frankly it just makes them look better on paper. It is a similar case with most parents who were born when college was a way to get ahead in society. So now there is this immense amount of pressure coming from adults and to me, that is downright unreasonable. College is not meant for every young adult and they can certainly succeed without it. It’s a difficult situation because on one hand it is scary to feel as though it will be a let down not to get into college but on the other it creates an unhealthy attitude towards life. “I moved back in and instead took a few classes at a community college and another online. I felt like a failure.” says Sierra recounting her highschool and college experience. We treat those who are either not ready or will never be ready for tertiary education as though they are less than, and for what purpose. These same people are just as likely to change the world as any other person. Take Elon Musk for example. A college dropout with enough sense to join the growing market for the internet and strike gold. Of course this is a rare occurrence, but what about patrol officers, sales representatives, or electricians? They make more than students fresh out of college.
In the end there’s likely no changing the emphasis put in college. However it is always your choice as to what you do in life and if you allow others to to put you down for it, you are only hurting yourself.
