I'm Not Going to College.

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Why can't people get it throught their thick skulls that I'm not going to college? I don't want a businesswoman job or any job where you have to be completely professional(wear suits, go to dinner parties, never have any time where you can be free to go to, wear and do what you want). I want to work somewhere that doesn't require college. I'll have disability and extra income if I can possibly work 3-5 jobs. I seriously would mind working 3 jobs and would love to work 5 for extra income. How do I explain this to people without them being jerks about this?

Hi there,

you don't have to go to college, but it might be a good idea to overthink your decision:

first, you don't have to study something which you don't like to. You can also study philosophy or math ... or sth. you like.

second, even if you study something your really don't like as much, then at least you probably also learned alot of other stuff, e.g. how to get things done, get some routine, and furthermore, whatever you do after your degree, thats a completely different story.

byebye,
Anton

College is totally worthless unless you want something very specific out of it. I went one semester out of high school then took a decade plus break because I was way more interested in the "real world". Eventually, I realized that my real world kinda sucked and was really tiny and confined. So I decided to see what else was out there.

I went back to college not to find a job or get a piece of paper for a career, but rather to find out more about the world and myself. It worked for that. Twenty years after high school, I finally just graduated with a degree in philosophy, which I'll never use professionally except that it made me a better writer and more concise thinker - as well as giving me a good grounding on which to base my understanding of the world. Now I wanna go back to community college and learn more about the human body.

Go to college to learn stuff you want to know. Do it when you're ready. Screw all that other noise. You get more out of college when you're older anyway. At least I did.

Many people who didn't go to college are ok. I have a great job and I never finished college. Wish I didn't waste the money that I did.

QFT. I won't recommend to my kids that they go to college straight out of HS. Almost everyone is far too immature to get what they need out of college at that age.

I'd decide what kind of job you would like and go from their. Or, if you do not have a specific job in mind pick a subject you enjoy (ex. Let's say you like math) that has multiple job options that you may enjoy (ex. teaching, accounting, computer work, etc.). It's not a bad idea to do some research/searching around when it comes to different types of jobs before you commit yourself to getting/not getting a college education.

Most degree requiring jobs don't require suits these days, and they certainly aren't all alike. It sounds like you have a skewed view of what most professional jobs are like.

As has already been pointed out, most HS grads have no idea what to do with an education and usually waste at least a year of it (note: at least in the US, HS doesn't count as an education IMO). If you do end up going to college, it would probably be best to work for a while first. Perhaps you could explain that and say that you will decide whether to go to college later.

Technical schools are certainly worth looking at, if you want to learn a specific trade.

Since you seem to be female from the sound of your post... you'd probably have an easy time getting into a trade union. The skilled trades are made up of about 98-99% men, so they'd probably pull affirmative action out to get you in. If you're an electrician... yeah, you'd have to wear a hard hat and jeans, but you're not expected to keep up a "professional appearance" obviously.

College is a waste of time. Unless you're an medical/engineering/computer science/accounting major these days, you probably won't get a job. Even if you do one of those majors, you're still not guaranteed a job. Companies like to import Indians and Chinese to do engineering/CS for half the price of American labor. Not to mention the education quality isn't even that good. Most classes from college are better learned from a book.

I was told when I was young that I was learning disabled so I did not even try to get into college or even do well in school. The funny thing is this summer the psychologist who evaluated m for Aspergers said he saw no signs of a learning disability so I guess I can say with a straight face that I have bitten myself in the ass. Since the age of 18 (I am 40 now) has been spent doing the most menial low paying jobs ever every job I was the pariah that the employees made fun off. And I was lucky to get those jobs I have never gotten a job through an interview. If I was blessed with a chance to do it over again I would have gone to college at least I would have a piece of paper that I could show people I am not ret*d or a lesser being.

My refusal in wanting to go to college resulted in therapy that led to my AS diagnosis. I don't know whether to consider that a good thing or a bad thing.

If none of the 'scholarly' careers catches your attention you can still look into trades.

Anything from art-related (painter/sculptor/etc) occupations to hands-on trades (electrician/plumber/etc) to specialty jobs like the merchant marine or scuba diving.

If your plan is to hold multiple jobs that do not require any education or skills past basic mandatory education then you may have to consider that you will be relying on volatile job sources for 60+ years of your working lifespan. The older you get the more likely you are to be fired from and not re-hired into such jobs... because it is cheaper to hire a youngster than pay an experienced older person to do the same job.

Though it sounds ugly to say it, you have the advantage of being female. This gives you a high chance of marrying and being a stay home mother (or non-working spouse).

Personally though, I think a mind is a terrible thing to waste. You should study something at least... something that interests you even if its not a 'money making career' choice.

Out of a 4 year degree I had completed the first 2 years which were mandatory courses for any non-specialized degree. I did this just after high school...and never found anything that interested me so I started working the very jobs you say you're looking for. Pay was not bad but not good and 10 years later I found it harder to find such jobs because of my age ... fresh out of high school kids were better hires than me. 2 years after that I discovered a degree that really,really interested me and i'm going for it.

The career isn't known to be a money maker but it sure is nice to work in something you like and have a damn good chance of being paid increasingly well AND having my experience count towards my keeping the job. That last part is the biggest reason why I suggest you do go through college.

You could lie to your parents and say that you want to work for some years first to build up some stable funds for college so you don't have to rely on student loans.

By then you will either be more comfortable with the idea of college or still working. Maybe your parents will be more understanding and respectable of you working without relying on a degree.

You're pretty brave. I could never do that. I could never work 3 or 5 jobs. You'd have no life at all. That'd be hell. I can't even imagine now going to college. I'm a High School Senior but then again, I already know what I want to do. I want to be a Special Education teacher and I need a college degree to become a teacher in general. And, it's reasonable pay. I won't need tons of jobs to live. I may just have 2 for a bit of extra money with the lesser paying one part time.

I didn't go to college right out of high school and I regretted it. While you can make decent money without a degree, most of those jobs are geared toward men. Although, I will say, my father is an electrician who got a 2 year degree. Once upon a time, no one cared that he went to college. Now he finds that many "blue collar" jobs are expecting it. People often don't have a career related to their degree, but the fact that they have a degree, gets them a better job. Going back to school was the best thing I did for myself, but it was really difficult to do when you also have to worry about paying the bills and other adult responsibilities.

Last edited by abaisse on 09 Feb 2011, 11:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.

http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1944515

Yeah... sometimes after a 16 hr day or a six day week (because I have to stay up 36 hrs to get work/school work done) I think "Damn! I was so stupid for not going to college out of high school!"

But the truth is college would have been wasted on me at 18. I spent all of high school getting drunk and raising hell. The last semester of my senior year, my "respectable" friends were talking about the universities they'd be attending...

I started to worry... I went to my dad and said, "Pop, good news! I've decided to go to college after all!"

My dad replied, "Son, I'm glad to hear that! You're smart and hard working, when you want to be. I'm sure you'll find a way to pay your way. Because, I'LL BE DAMNED, if I'm gonna subsidize another four-year party for you."

I worked my way through tech-school became an electrician and did industrial automation for 20 years--made a lot of money and hated every minute of it...

The upside is, I really appreciate college now!

If I'd gone 20 years ago, I would have squandered my experience and obtained a worthless degree in something I hated just as much as automation.