By: Ashley Quintela Valle
With guidance counselors breathing down the necks of students and parents shoving university pamphlets down their child’s throat, students can’t see what possibilities are ahead.
Well, persistent counselors and prideful parents, there are more options aside from four-year universities. From gap years to trade schools, high schoolers should be aware of the opportunities the world has to offer because universities aren’t for everyone.
Attending a university is a decision that should be carefully thought out by students rather than be engraved into the mindset of impressionable teenagers. At a young age, teachers encourage little ones to work hard so they can go to college, but hard work pays off in other ways—ways that don’t necessarily result in a mountain of debt.
It’s no surprise that going to a four-year university is a large investment. Most people don’t buy a house on a whim or book a $2,000 flight to Australia without giving it a second thought, so why should choosing to go to a four-year university be any different?
Pressuring children to take part in a college career that on average, according to CNN, costs $56,840 for a full degree is unfair considering they are the ones who have to pay it back. They are the ones may have to forfeit their dream house or the chance to explore the wonders of down under. They are the ones will who will spend hours hunched over a textbook waiting for the caffeine to kick in.
To all the parents reading this, appalled, and all the teachers eager to write letters of recommendations, don’t fret. College is not a bad choice, but it should not be the only one presented to impressionable youngsters.
Trade schools are one of many viable options for young adults. Not only will those who choose to take up a trade learn valuable skills, while earning substantial pay, but also help replenish the lack of trade workers in America. When a storm wreaks havoc on a city and roofs are lost and running water comes to a stop, cities can’t very well rely on a business tycoon or a law student to help correct the problems.
Electricians, carpenters and welders are just some of the skilled trades industries that have upheld the top position in job vacancies from 2010 to present day according to The Washington Post. Unfortunately, instead of filling these positions, society tends to cast a negative light on trade workers.
Zach Pechazek, electrician professor at Metropolitan Community College north campus, said he wishes people understood the need for trade workers.
“People sometimes think our line of work is an easy way out of getting what some people consider ‘real education.’ That’s not true,” Pechazek said. “What we learn here is important and is just as challenging as any other career field.”
At just 18 years old, students are expected to have a plan of their life, one that hopefully, in the eyes of advisors, entails college. With opportunities and overwhelming pressure, students should be told that it’s okay to not know. In fact, they should be told that it is okay to figure it out. That’s what gap years are for.
Fresh out of high school, students should be better informed and even encouraged to take a year off to have some life experiences and dabble in work to save up money for their future. Sometimes the best lessons are taught in the world, not from the slides of a PowerPoint.
So, before choosing a roommate or signing up for a class that doesn’t particularly spark an interest, remember though college is an option, there are more out there.
