All my life, I had planned to go to college after high school. It was engineered into me by my parents and society around me. Often those who don't attend college are thought of as "Low-Achiever" or "Less-Likely-To-Be-Successful". But how true is that after reading in the news about college dropouts such as Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates or Steve Jobs? Surely the terms "Low-Achiever" and "Less-Likely-To-Be-Successful" can't be used to define these men, who some would say, set the standard for success.
I have never attended college. In fact, I left high school at 16 to get a GED. All my skills are self-taught and all my knowledge gained from free sources on the world wide web, which in recent studies has shown to be a better source of information than your average college textbook. Sounds like your paying for a diploma rather than actually learning any useful skills.
Currently I work as an independent 3D Designer who sells my models to entertainment companies. I'm faced with the option of going to college for a degree in Computer Science or continuing my work as is to hopefully gain permanent employment with one of my many clients. On one hand, I would spend the next four years getting into debt and (quite possibly) re-learning skills that I already have. On the other, however, a lot of job positions that I would meet the skillset of require a Computer Science degree. Is the debt worth the piece of paper stating that I can do what I have already been able to do for years, especially when the average student debt exceeds $26,000?
What's your opinion on the issue? Should our youth settle for lower paying jobs that will eventually promote up into higher paying ones or sit back for four years working on a degree which has a high percentage chance to land you in that same low paying job?
2 comments:
Tough call. I started college then dropped out after one year to get a job. After ten or twelve years on the job, I finished my degree through Portfolio Assessment. By gathering documentation of my skills, I was able to get college credit for my work experience. Maybe that's an option for you?
Wow I didn't even know something like that existed! Is that a website? That would definitely be something to look into because I do have documentation of my work (luckily it's all digital)
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