Is College the Only Path to Success?

I love the way the school system works.

Anyone who can turn in homework or do well on tests is considered “smart,” but the people who can build houses and write songs and paint murals are only smart if they pass the state curriculum put forth.

I know I’m not a dumb person, I do fairly well on tests but I can never focus enough to do homework or pay close attention in a class that doesn’t grab my attention.

So these kids who are doing something with their lives and have hands-on experience aren’t smart unless they pass the tests and classes? I’m so glad that the guy who knows a lot about construction needs to be taught about microbiology and the way the earth works.

Honestly, if music and art students (and tech students) have to take years of math and science, why aren’t those kids that are good at math and science required to take music and arts classes? It’s this kind of stuff that’s ruining my generation. Drop out rates and teen suicide rates are so high because the schools push all the students to be the same. They sometimes put more emphasis on grades than on learning, because the better a school performs on testing, the more money it receives from the government.

I’m not bashing the kids who are smart in other subjects, I’m just saying that we shouldn’t base intelligence off of numbers on paper. I’m ranked 26th out of 50 something in my grade (maybe 40 something, I’m not positive) so according to the school, I’m pretty average.But out of those 40-50 something kids in my class, how many can say they’ve done something with their life so far?

A few of my buddies are in a band that gigs and makes money (Have You Heard?). I’m on the drumline of a freaking NFL team. Another friend of mine can strip and rebuild an entire engine. But who gets all the scholarships and offers from schools? Us? Or the paper smart kids?

No, we’re not important enough because we don’t get good grades.

If you want to go into construction right after high school, go do it. If you really want to drive tractor trailers, do it. If you want to be a garbage man or a logger or an engine mechanic, do it. People say that you won’t be successful without a college degree, but if you want to do those jobs, do them! If someone calls it menial labor or something of that sort, tell them “Okay, let’s see how much you enjoy watching your trash pile up because there’s no garbage man to collect it. Let’s see how warm your house is with no wood for the fire?”

Those jobs aren’t menial, they aren’t unimportant, they need to be done by somebody, and if you enjoy it, what’s stopping you?

On average it costs between $10,000 and $30,000 dollars a year to get a 4-year degree in college. Then, when you’re finally graduated, you have student loan debt, a small crappy apartment, and most likely no job in your field of study. Now imagine if you went to work right after high school, with no college. You save your money up, and in that same 4 years that your classmates are graduating their college, you could have a nice place to live, a pretty decent car, and you have a lasting, paying job. Then whatever money you have leftover, you put it away for savings.

You don’t need a college degree to make it in life. You don’t need to be great in school to make something of yourself. Do what you really want to do, and life will work itself out.