Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Most degreed people I know have far more student debt than that. And what with unemployment skyrocketing for teens and young adults, most can't even work their way through college anymore.
I know one lady who has 4 degrees, including an Ed. D. -now middle-aged, she still has a huge debt- and though she earned 6 figures for a while, has virtually nothing to show for it, now that she decided to stop working in academia due to the politics of it- and her degrees are virtually worthless in any other field- she is currently working as a low-paid care-taker!
Too bad more people wouldn't see the value and truth of what you say.
And now especially with the internet, if one just wants to be educated, there is nothing stopping them from learning about anything and everything, for free. College more often than not these days, just buys one a degree, and little else. -vs. a real education.
I was born and raised in Putnam/Northern Westchester area of New York but I have childhood memories of Long Island cause my aunt who is now retired and lives in Clifton Park New York used to live on Long Island for many years. I would spend summers at her house, she was on the canal, she even once showed me the Amityville House that they made all those horror movies about.
I come from a family that was mixed with college grads, skilled trades, and ex-military. My dad was Navy and I was Army, sitting on a ship out in the middle of nowhere didn't seem appealing to me. Also we all know that Army is the best, when you look at the history of the branch, the traditions of West Point, and their excellence in leadership development, Army was my choice for service.
As far as the college thing goes if it's your dream to get a degree by all means go for it just don't come out of the place with a ton of debt and a 10 dollar an hour job. Basically avoid being an English major, liberal arts, or art history.
I did well for myself and feel blessed to have the stuff I do. My wife is degreed in business, went into management with Walgreens Pharmacies. I'm a military veteran with a mechanical background, went to a tech school and make more money then she does, the one with the degree.
Ever since I was a kid I've been fascinated by cars and I kinda knew that I was intersted in a career in the automotive sector. I started out working my through college as a mechanic after my military career came to an end in which case I did mechanics there as well. I was an English major and wanted to write about cars.
Well the economy crashed, people stopped buying magazines, and automotive writers and journalists had less job opportunities so I just stayed working on cars and trucks. I knew an English degree had become worthless and was making great money as a certified technician and licensed vehicle safety inspector.
If you want to live in the shadow of the greatest city in the world and still be able to have a backyard and a car, Long Island is a great place to live.
It is hard to economically quantify all other reasons why anyone would pay the premiums to live here...
If you want to live in the shadow of the greatest city in the world and still be able to have a backyard and a car, Long Island is a great place to live.
It is hard to economically quantify all other reasons why anyone would pay the premiums to live here...
I was born and raised in Putnam/Northern Westchester area of New York but I have childhood memories of Long Island cause my aunt who is now retired and lives in Clifton Park New York used to live on Long Island for many years. I would spend summers at her house, she was on the canal, she even once showed me the Amityville House that they made all those horror movies about.
I come from a family that was mixed with college grads, skilled trades, and ex-military. My dad was Navy and I was Army, sitting on a ship out in the middle of nowhere didn't seem appealing to me. Also we all know that Army is the best, when you look at the history of the branch, the traditions of West Point, and their excellence in leadership development, Army was my choice for service.
As far as the college thing goes if it's your dream to get a degree by all means go for it just don't come out of the place with a ton of debt and a 10 dollar an hour job. Basically avoid being an English major, liberal arts, or art history.
I did well for myself and feel blessed to have the stuff I do. My wife is degreed in business, went into management with Walgreens Pharmacies. I'm a military veteran with a mechanical background, went to a tech school and make more money then she does, the one with the degree.
Ever since I was a kid I've been fascinated by cars and I kinda knew that I was intersted in a career in the automotive sector. I started out working my through college as a mechanic after my military career came to an end in which case I did mechanics there as well. I was an English major and wanted to write about cars.
Well the economy crashed, people stopped buying magazines, and automotive writers and journalists had less job opportunities so I just stayed working on cars and trucks. I knew an English degree had become worthless and was making great money as a certified technician and licensed vehicle safety inspector.
We sound very similar- I have also made my living for most of my life futzing with vehicles in one way or another. It's like i told my neighbor when he asked my opinion about buying a repair shop [He was never a mechanic- but I showed him how to do a head gasket on one of his cars, and he just took-off with it!] I told him "It's almost impossible NOT to make money with cars". He's only had the shop for about 6 weeks now, but is doing great already- even before advertising.
We sound very similar- I have also made my living for most of my life futzing with vehicles in one way or another. It's like i told my neighbor when he asked my opinion about buying a repair shop [He was never a mechanic- but I showed him how to do a head gasket on one of his cars, and he just took-off with it!] I told him "It's almost impossible NOT to make money with cars". He's only had the shop for about 6 weeks now, but is doing great already- even before advertising.
We need to start telling young people the truth in my opinion. College is a wonderful thing if what you always dreamed of becoming required you to have a degree. If you desire something other, then you need to research the path taken to become it, and the credentials and training required. If you were someone that struggled in high school the chances of successfully completing a degree program are very slim.
What we need to do as parents and educators is pay attention to a child's interest, what are their talents, and what we can do as adults to help get them there, college is not always the answer, one size does not fit all and if you try and force a kid to go who is not college equipped they are going to waste money and leave feeling like a failure. We need to promote education in all forms which includes apprenticeships and technical trades.
Think about this. When I was coming up through the ranks Anerica still had apprentice programs, it was paid training while working during the day and then taking your tech classes at night. You were earning an income, you were learning something, and you were progressing in a career field.
Today apprenticeships have become internships which by using that word means you can get away with free forced labor, you graduate 26k or more in debt, you hope you can get a job, then once you start earning a career type salary, a quarter or more of it goes back to paying student loans which in turn slows down the process of starting a family, buying a home, buying a car. You did all this work in college just so you can be in debt and forced to become an indentured servant to the corporations and the bank machine who floated you those loans.
When a college football coach in the SEC is making 2.3 million a year it's no longer about education, it's a business that preys on the belief that without college you will never be successful. And that is simply not true.
^ it may have been different times but the numerous "free labor" internships I did while in school contributed to why I got a job so easily. It was work experience and an opportunity to talk about all the things I did relevant to the position. I am a big proponent of doing internships. Besides, I thought they made it a law now that it has to be paid.
Anyway, I agree you have to be careful whether going after a degree is worthwhile in your field of interest. Times are different and the lines for traditional paths are long.
^ it may have been different times but the numerous "free labor" internships I did while in school contributed to why I got a job so easily. It was work experience and an opportunity to talk about all the things I did relevant to the position. I am a big proponent of doing internships. Besides, I thought they made it a law now that it has to be paid.
Anyway, I agree you have to be careful whether going after a degree is worthwhile in your field of interest. Times are different and the lines for traditional paths are long.
Interns like apprentices should get paid as they are working while learning about their chosen field of interest. Theory comes from text books, experience comes from hands on training and development. Neither by themselves are very effective but combined you then have structure.
When I was in school we used textbooks as well but we got to practice that theory in a hands on lab. To simplify this theory tells you how something works while combined with hands on you'll also know how to fix it. Basically if you know how something works then you should be able to fix it.
I wouldn't want to be a young man just starting out in today's world. Apprenticeship programs have shrunk, technical and trade colleges have gotten more expensive then what they used to be and traditional 4 year degrees have gotten so out of control that by the time you're done achieveing your degree you could have bought yourself your first starter home, it's crazy.
College is a good ambition to have, don't get me wrong but education comes in so many different forms from the 4 year student to the electricians apprentice learning from a master in the field it's all learning and the purpose for learning is to develop a skill set to where you can earn a decent living and be able to stand on your own 2 feet.
I mean you can go to the local library and learn about British History, you don't need to spend 40 grand a year to do it. If you are going to go to college get into a field that is in demand and will pay you like nobody's business, otherwise you are better off learning a technical trade.
We need to start telling young people the truth in my opinion. College is a wonderful thing if what you always dreamed of becoming required you to have a degree. If you desire something other, then you need to research the path taken to become it, and the credentials and training required. If you were someone that struggled in high school the chances of successfully completing a degree program are very slim.
What we need to do as parents and educators is pay attention to a child's interest, what are their talents, and what we can do as adults to help get them there, college is not always the answer, one size does not fit all and if you try and force a kid to go who is not college equipped they are going to waste money and leave feeling like a failure. We need to promote education in all forms which includes apprenticeships and technical trades.
Think about this. When I was coming up through the ranks Anerica still had apprentice programs, it was paid training while working during the day and then taking your tech classes at night. You were earning an income, you were learning something, and you were progressing in a career field.
Today apprenticeships have become internships which by using that word means you can get away with free forced labor, you graduate 26k or more in debt, you hope you can get a job, then once you start earning a career type salary, a quarter or more of it goes back to paying student loans which in turn slows down the process of starting a family, buying a home, buying a car. You did all this work in college just so you can be in debt and forced to become an indentured servant to the corporations and the bank machine who floated you those loans.
When a college football coach in the SEC is making 2.3 million a year it's no longer about education, it's a business that preys on the belief that without college you will never be successful. And that is simply not true.
Funny thing is, today, when someone goes into a trade or business environment after graduating trade school or college, they usually start at the very bottom; doing the dirty little jobs...which is where an apprentice would have started, when we still had real apprenticeships....only the apprentice would have been doing that when he was 14 or 16, instead of 23...and he wouldn't be $60K in debt.
I consider myself very fortunate to have grown-up around a lot of self-employed people. THAT was always my idea of "normal". So I started out doing my own thing when I was 17....and was already well-established when most of my peers were still acting like little boys and partying in college in their 20's.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Move Out!
