Personal Experience?

[Mike n NC]

OR...Got a hobby or past time you really enjoy? Figure out a way to make money at it. My son, a high school dropout, is now approaching my level of income doing what he loves. He tours with various bands as their insturment tech, even gets to play once in a while. Headed out for a far east tour swing in a couple of weeks.

Now let me further qualify my comment about the libart degree. It does, and very well I might add, teach you how to learn and puts a polish on the HS education. However, I don't consider it a be all to end all but rather a starting point to higher education. A chance to learn what you want to learn if you will. With the bulk of "today's" HS seniors now having an 8th grade education, that's in the US I don't know about Canada, they have a definite place in the system.

Mike

[jfellrath]

OR...Got a hobby or past time you really enjoy? Figure out a way to make money at it. My son, a high school dropout, is now approaching my level of income doing what he loves. He tours with various bands as their insturment tech, even gets to play once in a while. Headed out for a far east tour swing in a couple of weeks.

GREAT advice, Mike. That's a good way to work out what you might be happy doing for work or a career - in fact, many career counselors will outright tell you that this is a good thing.

Now let me further qualify my comment about the libart degree. It does, and very well I might add, teach you how to learn and puts a polish on the HS education. However, I don't consider it a be all to end all but rather a starting point to higher education. A chance to learn what you want to learn if you will. With the bulk of "today's" HS seniors now having an 8th grade education, that's in the US I don't know about Canada, they have a definite place in the system.

I've heard it said that the US's K-12 education system is a joke but that college is where the US catches up with the rest of the world. I am not saying this is true everywhere, but I've heard plenty of foreign students say that American colleges are much harder than their counterparts overseas. Again, not a blanket statement, but I've heard it said plenty of times both anecdotally and in studies.

But I don't agree that a Liberal Arts BA is only a stepping stone to higher education - it's also considered an indication among businesses that the person with the degree "can be taught," and that they were able to start a long-term project and finish it. Example: I have a BA degree in history, yet I'm currently a computer programmer. A job that I intended to be temporary while I explored other options turned into a career when I discovered that I had an aptitude for IT. A college education of almost any kind can open doors that weren't previously open.

That's not to say that a person with a degree is any more or less qualified for a job than a person without a degree. I know plenty of folks in my field who have no degree but are just as skilled and just as compensated as I. All I'm saying is that a degree is, more or less, a certification that many places will look for, and you can't go wrong with a sheepskin under your belt.

[Sherry]

Wow, Mike, you really do have a lot to think about! Just remember,

"A mind once stretched by a new idea never regains its original dimension."Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.US jurist (1841 - 1935)I hope that whatever you pursue, you will be able to follow your passion, be flexible enough to adapt to the changing times, & do some good along the way.

[Jerry]

Hey, Mike, your description of your son as an Instrument Tech (Musical instruments) makes me laugh. Not at your son, but because when my youngest daughter had to tell her class what her father did and she told them I was an instrument tech, they wanted me to come by and tell them about working on guitars and such. I had to send a note explaing that I worked on industrial instrumentation, not musical instruments. The guys in the shop i retired from would get a kick out of this because they have all been asked about musical instruments at one time or another

[bubba]

Sounds like a good idea, but unfortuantely it is an outdated one these days Bubba. I know, I did just that.

Colin, it's a case of what goes around comes around. Doing that was considered obsolete in the US too, but what with the economic situation it's back in favor again.When I was growing up the rule was a rich man goes to college and a poor man goes to work. I left high school in my junior year to go to work.

[Colin]

Colin, it's a case of what goes around comes around. Doing that was considered obsolete in the US too, but what with the economic situation it's back in favor again.When I was growing up the rule was a rich man goes to college and a poor man goes to work. I left high school in my junior year to go to work.

The main difference there, is that here in BC we are in the middle of an economic boom. You almost need a degree before you apply working at Subway these days. One of the other issues in BC is that a large group of the population has gone on to post secondary education and upped the standard. I met with numerous roadblocks due to my lack of formal education when I first tried to get out of the shipping/receiving business. With the increase in university students and degrees hitting the workforce, the major cities in BC have really taking a nose down approach at blue collar workers in the past decade. We are just now starting to see that these people will soon be in short supply, and now the government and industry is putting alot of effort into training tradespeople. As it stands right now (especially with the Olympics coming in 4+ years) if you have a trade ticket you can almost name your price.

Canada also differs from the US in that our post secondary education may be funded differently. BC has some of the higher tuition fees right now, but they have not been raised in some time. With the number of post secondary facilities in BC (universities, trade schools, colleges) it is within almost everyone's grasp to obtain further education. I was one of the few people I know that did not go back to school right away. However I have taken several business courses since and may actually go back to school part time in the near future. In my mind education is not a human right (after all how many people don't have the opportunity to get a basic education), but it is a privelige I hope to take further advantage off in my life.

Slightly off topic, but my oldest nephew (on my wife's side) is a US citizen. When he applied to go to University in the US instead of Canada, one of the things that suprised us all was that when he signed for a student loan, part of the deal was that he was consenting to a draft should there every be one. Whether this is an isolated example or not, I am not sure.

[Jerry]

Hey Jewddha *sounds sorta like a Beatles song). Here is another suggestion for a trade if you choose not to go to college. "Air conditioning and refridgeration mechanic" With the latest requirements of certification to handle refridgerants, those guys can nearly name their own salary. The downside to that trade is that they are often up in an attic during the hottest times of the year.

[Riverkilt]

Hey Jewddha,

Congrats on the impending graduation.

My suggestion is go take some of those free career tests, or read What Color is Your Parachute? to see what you're interested in.

Tests are easy, "do you like dirt?" "Do you like to fly?"

I'm supposed to be a jeep tour driver, but work as a therapist. There are a lot of similarities in that I show my clients things they might benefit from.

So its a general answer from the tests, but might help you narrow your choices. It can be overwhelming when the whole world is available to you.

Ron