If your child came to you as told you that they wanted to enter the workforce instead of going to college how would you react?
Generally, we would freak out! Tell them they are making a huge mistake. Insist that they go to school if they live in our houses. But lately I have been changing my opinion on this topic.
I went to college and got my associates in Human Services emphasizing in Early Childhood Education and I worked as a pre-K teacher making $10 to $12 an hour. Luckily, for me I did not have school loans so I didn't have an extra bill each month to try and cover with hardly enough money to live on my own. However, now that I'm a homemaker that is going to homeschool and truthfully has no intention on ever returning to the workforce, I feel guilty that my dad paid money for college that I will probably never use again. Now, of course, my field happens to help me everyday because my kids are the age I studied for but I could have easily learned what I needed from library books and talking to other moms. Actually the most valuable information I use on a daily basis inside my home and when I was in the classroom was not stuff I learned in school but from my experiences and the experiences of others.
Now to move on to my husband. He didn't attend college and he has had his fair share of struggles in the workforce but not because of a lack of education. He is very smart and is a great wood worker. He builds beautiful custom furniture and is great at remodeling homes.He is a great leader and does great juggling many tasks at once. These are all great skills and he didn't need to go to school to learn them. He spent several years learning the industry under others and he saw the good and bad throughout. He learned the construction industry and learned from others mistakes on what not to do on the business side. He's now a business owner. He has a partner who runs the office and paperwork and he runs all the jobs and manages all employees. I'm proud to say in this economy we have 5 full time employees and several subcontractors that we provide work for! Really what more could you ask for than providing for your family, your business partners family and many other people in your town!
I would be proud of my boys if they chose to follow a similar path to the one we have taken. I would be proud if they start out in the workforce debt free and choose to create jobs in their community. Of course, if they want to be a doctor or lawyer or another field that requires a college education I will be equally proud of them and do whatever I can to help support them through it.
What I want most for my boys is to live a life they are proud of, a life that makes them happy, and a life that adds to our country!
So remember this...Work Smart AND Hard!
(To support Mike Rowe's Work Smart AND Hard scholarship program click HERE!)
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