Think Before you Further Your Education

By Chelsy Ranard

I always knew I was going to attend college and graduate with my degree. From a young age I was told how important my education was and how important college was going to be for me. Just like so many others, I graduated from high school and made my way to life in the university system. I worked hard and graduated with my journalism degree. Once I entered the real world outside of school and into the working world, I started to realize the many options available to people my age. I always thought the logical next steps for me included school and a career, but after taking a few summers to work in Alaska during my schooling and understanding what life would be like outside of education, I realized that more people my age should understand that there are other options available to them. I discovered that passion is the most important factor in finding your path and that social expectations shouldn’t shape your decisions.

Knowing your Options

Before deciding on a path, it’s important to understand all of the options available including the university option. In reality, graduating from a university is the only way that many of us can achieve the things we want to achieve. Certain careers require schooling and for those, a bachelor’s degree or higher may be the only option. However, for some they may not be required to attend college in order to achieve what they’d like to. For those passionate about a job in the medical field, they have options within that world that offers growth such as medical assisting, working as a veterinary technician, or as a dental assistant. Each of these options require minimal schooling, a good salary, and upward mobility without having to attend a 4-year university.

There are options like this in many different fields that young people should look into before committing to the debt associated with a college degree. If you can fulfill your career goals without having to spend years paying off student loans, it’s worth looking into. The important thing for young people to realize is that there are multiple options to get the career you want — and some of them do not require a college education.

Discovering your Passions

More important than salary, education, and status, is passion. The worry for many is that without direction, young people are in danger of losing their upward mobility and becoming stagnant in not moving towards any goals. In reality, many young people aren’t sure about their passions by the time they have already committed to schooling, so they decide to take some general education classes until their passion is found. For some, though, their aspirations are found outside the walls of a university. And there are many options to discover those passions that don’t include sitting at home and becoming sedentary while others go and achieve their dreams.

Volunteering with a non-profit for animals, kids, the environment, your community, or any other organization that you would like to support is a way to discover your passions without remaining stagnant without attending school. Experiences are a great resume builder’s while also working to help you find your passions. And if your passion doesn’t require a degree, you shouldn’t feel pressured to attend a university just because it’s the common next step for many high school graduates.

Managing Social Expectations

There will always be social expectations that we feel pressured into throughout our lives. Attending college, getting a job, getting married, having kids, and retiring is the natural progression of life for many people, but it’s not for everyone. In order to rethink your college education, it’s important to take a harder look into the social expectations that pressure us and understand that our lives belong to us and not what’s expected of us. If you’d like to take a year to travel, work seasonally, or volunteer before attending school, or deciding on your career choice, it’s okay to do that. The key is to remain mobile and make sure that what you’re doing is to gain experience and build a resume instead of falling into a rut while discovering your passion.

With college debt rising, skills gap problems within education, and more options for careers that don’t require a 4-year degree, it’s important to dig into the social expectations to attend school and discover if it’s the right choice for you. It’s an important step for many people, but it’s not the only step for everyone.

I graduated with my degree, travelled a bit, spent some time on a journey that strayed from my career path, and reflected on my passions. I attended college without a thought, accepting that it was the next logical step without realizing that social expectations took me on that path without questioning. I know I made the right decision for me in the long run, but I realized on that journey exactly how many options there are for young people after high school. I learned that passion matters more than anything else, and that social expectations shape us more than we realize. In the long run, we have the freedom to shape our lives the way that we choose and furthering our education is a great option for some — but not for everyone.

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