Dear Teen,
There seems to be this crazy push, at least in my community, for all teens to get into college. While this can be a great idea it just may not be for everyone. I like the idea of figuring out what you want to do as a job/career and then doing what it takes to prepare for that job. I know lots of teens have no idea what they want to do but they might have a pretty good idea of what they like, what they are interested in and what they are good at. That’s a great starting point to figuring out a career area of interest. Lots of teens just don’t really like school and the thought of college is overwhelming. Especially if they have no idea what they want to study, or why. I recently saw a video put together by our local community college that clearly showed the trend in the relationship between education and job earning potential. It was also very clear that the trend is showing that there are more and more jobs that don’t even require a four year degree! But they do require some specific training, often a 1 or 2 year training program. The great things about these programs are that the classes are more specific to what you need to know to do the job. While a four year college education is a an awesome opportunity to learn many different things, it might not be for you. So I suggest exploring what you might really enjoy doing for a career and then finding out what it will take to get there. You might be surprised! And there are tons of career exploration tools available online and at most high schools. Planning ahead may help send you in a direction you enjoy pursuing and help you become a self-supporting member of society.