Dear Teen,
So I’ve been thinking. Is a 4 year college degree what YOU need to do your career? Oh, you don’t know what you want to do?? Let’s start there. Maybe if you knew what you wanted to do for a self-supporting career first then you could find out what it will take to get there. There’s an idea! So many more people are going in to college with no idea of what they want to do. Or maybe they know what they want to do and it doesn’t take a 4 year degree. But they go anyways. Their parents insist! If everybody goes to college who will fill those jobs that require technical skill training? Who will fill the jobs like plumbers, electricians, medical office support, etc. I think it could be the people with a college degree but no focus and no job. They just might get over-educated. Now I agree there is value in education for the sake of learning stuff. Absolutely. But when college costs are up do you really want to spend your money on something that might not lead to a self-supporting career? I’m not suggesting this applies to everyone, but it is certainly something to consider. Maybe think first about what you might want to do and then figure out what it will take to get there. You might be surprised to find out you really only need a 2 year degree, technical training, or a certificate program. There are so many options out there. And so many middle sector jobs that will need to be filled and may not require a 4 year degree. There are some good career exploration tools online. Start there to broaden your horizons. You may find some really cool and interesting careers out there that you never thought of! I know there are! Take into consideration what you are interested in and think about how you see your work day. Are you in an office? Working with people, animals, children? Providing a service or creating something? Do you like to be by yourself or work on a team? Are you good at fixing things? Making things? Helping people? The list could go on and on and on…….Find out who you are, what makes you happy and hone in on what you might like to do with your workday. Then figure out what it will take to get there. It’s not that hard. And it’s a whole lot easier than going through 4 years of college with no direction and ending up with a possibly large student debt and a job that does not match your education. Personally, I’d rather know what I’m spending my educational funds on with a goal in mind. So find a goal, figure out how to get there and go for it!