We've all heard it before. Stay in school and make good grades so that you can get into a good school, but have you ever questioned it before? It's so easy to mindlessly follow what our cultures and peers coach us to do.
Well, listen to the perspective of someone who grew up in a different culture. Yes, I have an American passport, but I spent a good portion of my childhood growing up in places all over the world. So I didn't grow up being taught the same things my peers in the US were taught. I guess I always assumed that I would come back to the US eventually, but it wasn't on my radar anytime in the near future. However, as usual, nothing went according to plan and just a week before the beginning of my senior year we moved back to America. It took me pretty much all of my senior year to understand how the whole American school system worked. SAT, ACT, AP, dual enrollment, college applications, FASA forms, transcripts, leadership resumes, grants, loans, and scholarships?! I was totally overwhelmed, while readjusting to American culture.
I made myself miserable trying to get it all done before the deadlines on top of moving to a new country, new house, and managing an insane work load (I was one of those dumb "smart" kids who instead of graduating from high school a year early, took all advanced college level courses minus the college credit). I finally decided to take a step back and ask the most important question that so few of us ask.
Why?
If it's true that a college degree will make you more money, why is it that the plumbers who fixes your toilet makes more than your teachers who prepare you for the future? If it really is true that you do make more money with a college degree, how does that change your life when all that extra money goes directly into paying off your $40,000 dollars of debt (many have far more)? What's the purpose of four or more years of college if, after graduating, you realize that you don't enjoy that line of work? Or you find that you've been inadequately prepared for that line of work? It amazes me the number of people I've met who, instead of taking the risk to follow their dreams, have to get a "real job" in order to pay off their debt.
Now, I'm not saying that college is by any means evil. There are a lot of fields that require it, but I don't think we realize how many field don't. We've got to first ask ourselves what it is we want to accomplish and only AFTER we know what we want to do, should we decide what type of education we need. College is not the answer for everything. Sometimes it's trade-school, some sort of certificate program, field experience, or on the site training.
For me the answer was/is college. When looking at the requirements for jobs and ministry opportunities I was interested in I found that most required a college degree. The funny thing is that it didn't really matter what you got a degree in, just that you had one. So, as of right now, I'm going the heath and fitness track. It matches my interests and passions and will provide me with the knowledge I need for what I want to accomplish.
I quickly decided that I didn't want my life to be controlled by debt or whoever pays my college bills and I'm sure there are many of you out there who feel the same. We all have a calling and purpose. So let us throw off everything that hinders us and run the race we were meant to run (NOT the one the culture tells you to run) and do it at a sane pace and without debt!
Don't think it's possible? Want to know more? Then keep reading! I've spent hundreds of hours researching and was astonished at what I found. I can't wait to share it with you!
