Tell me about not going to college

[Black_Eagle]

Recently, I had to drop a community college course I was taking in addition to my high school classes. I was doing well in one of them, and terribly in the other. In the course I was doing badly in, it was simply because I didn't study. I've hardly studied in my entire career as a student so it was a shock to my system. I've learned my lesson, though. If I take college courses again, you can bet I'm going to hunker down and study. But that raises the question: Do I really want to take college courses again? Do I really want to go to University? Truth is, I've always hated school. From the endless repetition, to the excruciatingly boring subjects, I hate it all. I've always done average or very well to the point that I might actually be my school's valedictorian (there's only 200-300 kids, but still). I don't want to become yet another wage slave grinding away my life in a cubicle somewhere. I don't care if I make 500k a year, I'm not going to do that. I don't want to sit in a lab performing calculations or working with chemicals all day. What I've longed for is to spend my time pursuing something physical, like a sport, or something artistic, like painting or writing. I understand the importance of education. What I question is the importance of a degree given my entrepreneurial spirit. Ever since the beginning of middle school I've been in somewhat of an on-off depression which has barred me from pursuing potential interests. I cannot remember the last time since my childhood that I really, truly, felt joy for an extended length of time. All this time I've been obeying the system and it hasn't brought me an ounce of happiness. I have no reason to believe the college experience is going to make me a happier person. Maybe social atmosphere would be nice, but it would pale in comparison to the actual grind of forced study. I feel that my salvation lies in taking things into my own hands. However, if my self-motivated study of human psychology has taught me anything, it's that humans cannot know how they will feel about a situation they have not already been in. Trying to figure out what will make you happy in life is akin to looking into a barrel of fish, blindfolding yourself, and then firing a rifle into the barrel where you think the fish would have swam. Even if you have been in a situation you perceive as similar, there could be some detail that makes the entire experience of it different. I'm thinking the best thing for me to do is to take a year off to explore my interests.

[Xei]

As long as you have subsistence nailed down, just do what you'd enjoy doing. It's that easy.

[Philosopher8659]

A well lived life is not about being happy or sad, it is about learning what one is and making the best of it. The mind is like any other environmental acquisition system, only it is our home. Public education is geared at learning by rote, which is not what the mind is about. The job of the human mind is to effect human will. That should be the real foundation of education, but as of yet, it is not.

[Invader]

Truth is, I've always hated school. From the endless repetition, to the excruciatingly boring subjects, I hate it all. If the subjects themselves are "excruciatingly" boring, you've answered your own question. University is not worth it if the only thing you're looking for out of it is a title and/or a shot at a particular well paying job you wont even find enjoyable.

[Alric]

Well people often go from high school right into collage, but if you don't know what you want to do, there is no rush. You are probably better taking a year off, than getting a degree in something you hate, not using it, then end up in a career where it doesn't even matter. Heck, take 5 or 10 years off to find your interests. If you want to do a sport, you are probably better off doing that while you are young any way.

[dajo]

Take a year off and travel. You'll get lots of inspiration.

[ninja9578]

You'll be like this guy In today's job market, almost every white collar job requires a 4 year degree minimum. So unless your Steve Jobs or Bill Gates, you need an education.

[Alric]

There are a lot of 'blue collar' jobs that make far more white collar jobs. Especially skilled blue collar jobs, which may require something like an apprenticeship instead of 4 years of collage. Also if your goal is to be a manger, there is a lot of ways to get to that position without collage, and its considered a white collar job. Normally the more skills and knowledge you have, the more you get paid. Which is why collage is often a good idea. However its not the only path to gain skills and knowledge.

[Black_Eagle]

Well, I've figured out a plan. I won't say what it is, but it should allow me to decide whether or not college is in my best interests. I suppose my largest quarrel with the whole college thing is that I don't want to waste my time learning things I'm not interested in and I don't want to join classes I am interested in only to be bored to tears by the learning structure. I don't know why, but there's something about another person telling me what to do and giving me a window in which to do it that robs me of my energy. @ninja: Funny you should mention becoming a taxi driver. I know a guy who's a nighttime taxi driver and he seems to really enjoy it. You said the job market requires a 4-year degree and then you say I need an education. I've heard that many jobs nowadays require a degree in anything, it doesn't matter. This means employers aren't looking for employees who are educated in any particular field, but who have gone through the process and succeeded. In their eyes, a degree for some reason makes a person more valuable. That is my quarrel with going to college. I don't want to waste four years of my time learning things I'm not going to use nor am I going to enjoy.

[greenhavoc]

go into the military for 3 years - it's not as long as it sounds - then if you still want a to go to school, let your uncle sammy pay for it

[Alric]

People do some times see a degree, and they know you have discipline to finish collage, and take that into consideration. So rarely is going to collage a bad thing. However it isn't always the best thing, especially if you need to take out loans and go into debt for it. Honestly if you get a degree in something you hate, a person who doesn't have a degree but likes the subject is probably going to pass you by. Before going to collage, I really suggest figuring out what you want to do. If you know what you want to do, then its easy to look into the job area and find the best path to get into it. Collage isn't all fun though, so some times you just got to bite the bullet. You might hate math, but if you know you need it for your dream job, its a lot easier to plow through it. On the other hand, if your just taking it so you can say you have a degree, its going to be painful, and you might even fail due to lack of motivation.

[DuB]

However, if my self-motivated study of human psychology has taught me anything... You seem to be interested in psychology, so why not study that? Granted, you'll have to complete general education requirements unrelated to psychology, but IMO those breadth-of-knowledge requirements are both important and beneficial. At the very least, they will give you fresh and useful perspectives on psychology. The computer metaphor of cognition is still very big (although it's finally showing signs of slipping toward disfavor), so general computer science knowledge is useful on both practical and theoretical levels. Courses on biology generally--and evolutionary biology in particular--are also useful because the last two decades of psychology have been marked by a hugely increased focus on the evolutionary adaptiveness of different features of cognition. In short, you end up learning a lot about psychology by studying things other than psychology. I suspect that the same is true of most subjects.

[Cosmix]

A friend of mine went to college got his degree (International Relations and Japanese) and now works as a salesman living off of commission only. My sister also did a double major (psychology and zoology) and can't get a job so is deciding to join the peace corps. I know at least two others who have degree's and are not working in their respected fields. I joined the armed forces for 4 years, which went by so fast it seems like a dream now, then just choose a random subject I was interested in (Rad Tech) - paid for my uncle sam - and went to a trade school for 2 years and am now doing better than most university grads I know. I work 4 days a week too so I have time for making music, photography, etc. I honestly can't say a university is really worth it, but I'm sure it's different for other people. Well I did miss out on a lot of college parties which kind of sucked . I went to a couple when I visited friends on leave and they were nuts! So that's one down side of not going to a university

[Orphic]

Don't go to college. Pursuing education after high school has pretty much screwed my life up but good forever. I was forced into college four years ago because my mother believed I'd make a six-figure income by getting a degree...well, four years and $74,000 later, I can't get hired anywhere at all, period. So now I have been forced into graduate school for my master's degree, going further into debt and having to waste money on crap I don't even want to learn. By the time I'm done with this school, I will be $100,000 in the hole with two useless degrees. I have a four-figure annual income, and my lender expects me to pay a three-figure bill each month because they don't care if I can't afford to pay them their precious bloody money. I may someday move out of the country to get away from my debts if I can't get them forgiven or discharged. My advice? Figure out what you'd like to do in life, and then, figure out if a degree is absolutely necessary to get the job you want. If not, don't bother with college - unless you're entering a significant medical field or law, college is absolutely worthless and will put you so deep in debt for the rest of your life that you will never be able to get out. You'll live every single day through garnished wages, house liens, and possibly being sued by your lender. You'll end up with late fees piled sky-high, and being forced to decide whether to pay the rent or pay your debts. The only way you can escape these massive debts is if you die. Not worth it in the least. You'd be better off working in a cube farm than wasting time and money in college. Unless, of course, you can somehow go to school for free (like through the military, or your employer sends you)...if you have to pay for any of it yourself, don't bother. ....can you tell I'm a little bitter over receiving a substandard education with a price tag exceeding that of an Ivy League school?

[dajo]

One could always consider studying in a country with reasonable college fees? But yeah, job market - it's much more about connections than the actual degree. Although I don't think that having no degree at all makes anything easier, many employers want to at least know that a person can work academically and the actual field of study is not even the most important part. I think a smart thing to do is already establish connections during college (getting involved) and doing internships in the free time. I don't know how it is in the US, but in Germany lawyers have one of the highest unemployment rates. And doctors are over worked and underpaid.

[Clyde Machine]

I wish to voice my opinion that you should go to college. College isn't like high school where I'm at, and living without a degree is like being treated as a kid no matter how old you get. :/