I have a college degree. A few degrees, actually. I really enjoyed my time at campus. My time as a college student was enriching and rewarding. I learned a great many things that weren't related to schoolwork. And college is often so much more immersive. I once did a project for a class that involved acting out a scene–that I prepared for by studying with trained Shakespearean actors. I did actual geology at a rock outcropping with a hammer, magnifying glass and other tools.
College isn't for everyone, but most everyone I can think of could stand a period of adaptation from being a student to the big boy world. Join the Navy. Go to tech school. If you don't go to a traditional college, it's helpful to have something like that where you can not only build a foundation of skills but where you can also learn how to be an adult.
As a kid, just about all you can ever remember being is a student. You wake up everyday, drag yourself to school and grind through a school day...rinse and repeat as needed. Year after year, from before you can ride a bike until you're old enough to drive a car, it's the same routine, day after day after day. And suddenly, you're not that thing. You can go to school, but don't have to. And it's a weird adjustment. The freshman attrition rate in college is amazing. Mostly, the kids that don't stick with it are ones that are overwhelmed by the responsibility–no one makes you go to school, no one makes you do homework, no one really even cares if you're in class.
While I look back fondly on my college years–I still smile when I see a young kid walking around with a sweatshirt from my Alma Mater–I wonder if, in this digital age, there is much value for most people in a college education. I value education as a whole. I think it's critically important. And, if you're going to be an engineer or doctor or something, by all means, college is for you. But what about kids with history degrees working in customer service or economics degrees working in telecommunications? What is the point of their degree? Well, they should have known not to pick such a useless major. That's the argument people sometimes put forth. But it's an erroneous point. College is impossible to survive if the subject matter doesn't interest you. My sister has a nursing degree. I have a zero percent chance of getting the same degree. You can't just do it because it's a sensible career path. Interest is a must.
And degrees take time. And they're expensive. Technology has changed the pace of knowledge these days. Degrees, four or five years down the road from freshman to graduation, are like computers. You walk off the stage, paper in hand and your degree is already archaic. So you have a relatively useless education base, you've burned up four or five years (more in most cases, let's be frank) and you are $40,000 or more in debt and only slightly better off than kids graduating high school the same day you graduated college.
Some 40 odd years ago, my dad got a job having a high school diploma, some college background and several years of service in the Navy. By all accounts, he really was over-qualified for the position. Today, having college background for employers means you have a Master's degree or higher. A bachelor's degree is the equivalent to my dad's high school diploma. It's the very least you should have.
All the while, companies bemoan the fact there aren't enough highly skilled employees in the work pool. When my dad entered the work force, and before, there was a thing called OJT–on the job training. In a sense, this notion goes back well beyond feudal times. The idea was a kid would start with a company–in the mail room, say– learn a few things, work his way up the ladder and by the time he's 25 or so, has a good enough job to support a family, buy a house and complain about tax rates. So...what happened to that? Why can't that be a thing now? Companies need trained employees–so hire them at 18 and train them yourself.
Endless companies will hire unpaid interns. Why not pay them a little while they learn and then put them into positions as you need them, fully confident they know what they are doing–assuming you know what you're doing, that is. Many companies (not so much in the US) have adopted this policy. They pay young workers, train them and the kids, in turn, agree to work for a period of time–normally 3-5 years–for that company. If you are a good company, the workers will stay. If not, you have a structure to replace them built in. For the employees, skills like Social Media Marketing or Search Engine Optimization are applicable to other companies, so moving on shouldn't be a problem if that's their inclination.
Trained workers, no college debt, more qualified young workers and college is freed up for people who will treat us when we are sick, build our roads and bridges and teach us how to do keg stands. Talk about a win–win scenario.
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