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Okay with all this talk of minimum wage and education I'm gonna tell a story about why the pressure students face in HS to go to college is complete BS and brainwashing.
How many of you knew exactly what you wanted your future to be at 17/18? I'm not saying nobody, but i certainly didn't and neither did a lot of my friends.
If you were asked at 17/18 what you wanted your future to be, without the pressure of college, what would you actually answer? Would you even know, realistically? I wouldn't.
At 17, when I graduated high school, I had a dream of going into music, but was constantly pushed down because it was "unrealistic", so I switched to the idea of social psychology because I always found it fascinating. I applied and got into 3 of my chosen colleges.
Before going though, my mom (a very edutated woman who taught literature at Berkeley for a time) pushed me into taking a gap year. She would always tell me that the students who took time off and THEN went to school, actually wanted to learn vs those that came straight from HS.
So, with that pressure, she had me attend beauty school as a trade. I didn't enjoy it, but saw her point in taking time outside of school. I graduated HS in 2010, started beauty school that summer, and dropped out in November (yes I'm a beauty school drop out lol)
I decided to attend my chosen college for the spring semester. 1 semester of college. Of intro courses and the basics of psychology to try and learn what I THOUGHT I wanted. I dropped out at the end of the semester.
Within that 1 semester, I realized that if I wanted to go into social psychology, I would have to attend grad school, which I didn't want. And with that I was out of ideas for a major. So my mom, in her logic, said then just drop out until you know what you want.
From then, it was 3 years until I decided to go back. 3 years. From 2011-2014. I worked minimum wage counter jobs, lived in shit apartments, and experienced my early 20s to the fullest. It was the most amazing experience I've ever had. It was life.
I went back to college in fall 2013 to my safety school. A community arts college. I went back for 1 reason. Because I wanted to learn music. I wanted to train my vocals, learn theory, and everything in between. That's all. Not because I thought there was a career, but to learn.
After 1 year at the community college I transferred to UMass Amherst and eventually graduated with a degree in Music Technology and Composition in spring 2017. I loved going back. I loved being back in the classroom and I soaked up every second.
I don't know if I would have felt that way if I continued right after HS. Because I took years off and worked, and because I went back BECAUSE I WANTED TO, that made all the difference.
At the end of the day, continue your education because it's what you want and what you aspire to do, not because of social pressure.
Side tweet: I was fortunate to have Pell Grants, and only had federal loans, and the kindness of a family member to pay for 1 semester. But I'm still around 30K in debt. I don't think it's worth destroying your income for the whim of going back. But I'm glad I did it.
Abolish student debt, fix the education system, and live and learn for yourself, not others. The end.
