That is true. You do have to want to do it. Your life will be miserable if you "kinda" want to join, and then do. Good advice. But I can truly say that my life is much better off. A lot of that is Veterans benifiets that your brother and sis may not have been able to take advantage of. The VA home loan got me a nice house, and the money I was able to save while deployed in the sandbox allowed me to put a lot of cash down on it, plus buy an Expedition. Was it worth it? In Iraq it didn't seem like it, but looking back I realize that it certainly was. It's something that is a personal descision, and no recruiter or family member or buddy can tell you to do it or not to do it.------Ryan

 

Dude, if you ever want to see a decent income, lets say 6 figs, your chance are, IMHO, 50/50 with a college education, 1 in 20 to 1 in 50 without it.

Stay in school, please.

 

I'm 21 and am also in college (Boise State, baby). I sometimes have doubts about whether or not to continue and everytime I think about I always determine that it's imperative to do so. Every day when I go to work I see what can happen without a degree. Everyone of my managers and supervisors has no degree and at the best a semester or two of college under their belts. These people are trying to support families on fairly low incomes, and are some of the hardest working people I've ever met in my life. But they are barred by education. In this day and age, it's almost impossible to earn a high salary without a degree. To sum up, my feeling is this: I'd rather go through college, graduate, and fail to find a satisfying job, than dropout and constantly wonder "what if......?"

 

I am in college now also, just got done with my freshman year... There are times that I would like to just take time off but I know I need to keep on getting it!

If I dropped out now I would have nothing at all.

 

Depends on you as a person. I went into the Marines. Yeah, that one wasn't easy to talk my way out of but I was able to do that, too. Went to school for a couple of years, ran out of money and ended up working my tail off to get the experience I needed to get to work in a newspaper as a designer. Took almost a decade to get the experience I would have been given with a four year degree.

Now, my best friend on the other hand. Biggest hippy you ever met. Went through 4 years in the army, then went to school. The Army is paying for it. He went through 3 years as a History major, decided history wasn't for him and now he is an engineering major. He is in his last year of engineering at UTA. He is the president of ASME on campus as well as about 3 other groups and he has the highest GPA in his class. 3.77. He actually makes money going to school. He gets more per month in scholarships than he did working prior to school. To top it off, when he graduates in December he will be worth over $50K just to start somewhere in his field.

Now, I am not one for the military or school. But I can tell you, that you don't want to become that guy who lives on his buddies couch and doesn't have the skills to do a damn thing. You definitely won't get many dates if you have to take em' home to the parent's house at 30.

Life is hard. Pick something you love to do because in the current social security situation you are going to be doing it till you are 90. College may not be your thing, look into an apprenticeship with a local union. Learn a real, honest-to-god trade. Take an entry level position with a utility company and work your way up.

It's all about how hard you want to work. I out work half my department on a daily basis but they have the degree that says, "pay me to sit on my duff..." I don't. I'll tell ya, there's no love in a computer job that you work yourself up to a sweat over on a daily basis. If you have the option, get the degree. Become the truck boss. Become the guy I love to hate because he gets to smile all the way to the bank while I break my *** to make him rich.

 

Do you really want to WORK the rest of your life for your money?? That sounds bad, but let me explain... when you're young, it's easy to find the energy to pour yourself into hands-on projects. What happens if you develop arthritis or lose a limb? You'll probably not have much as far as savings goes, especially if you start a family, and you'll be in a pretty awful position. I used to work with a mid-sized engineering firm and believe me, if you work at a smaller place, you'll be as hands on as you want. A four-or-five-year degree in engineering (or anything, really) plus the ability to use heavy machinery and make decisions can get you a great salary with benefits and you'll be able to retire someday. And it won't be boring. You really have to get into the workplace to see how these things work and what kind of job you want. My suggestion to you is that you get out the phone book, find some small fabrication or automotive shops... whatever you think interests you... and ask to take a tour. Who knows? You might get yourself some important contacts or a summer or part time position? Or you might find out you hate whatever they do and at least you'll know while there's time to do something about it!

 

You get a lot more out of college then a degree. Although it is just a piece of paper the some employers look for, its definitely shaped me into a better person (concentration, focus, etc).

I had no idea what I wanted to do, and heck, most people do something different then what their degree is in anyways, but you got a degree and worked your butt off for it.

But, if you're smart, hard working and don't dick around, college degree or not, you should make a good living somewhere.

 

Chris,

Here's my two cents just for what it's worth.

You remind me of a buddy of mine. He plays baseball at a small private college here in AL. He's an awesome pitcher but wants to build houses for a living. Baseball doesn't pay for his school but I am sure there are times it's what keeps him there. Not only that, he's made some great friends playing baseball. He's love the game and playing it but realizes his chances of playing forever are fairly slim. As far as swimming is concerned, I suggest sticking with it. You'll make some great friends and stay in shape.

As far as school, I suggest you look beyond the struggles of class now and how easy it would be to throw in the towel. Think about it like this. Although I have the utmost respect for rooofers, and carpenters, I know it must be a difficult job. I'm sure they would agree that roofs get hot, and their job gets old. Stay in school and one day maybe you can be a contractor and own your own contracting business. I suppose you don't necessarily need a degree to become a contractor but the more you understnad about business and so forth, the better off you will be.

Just a thought, good luck.

 

The armed forces have some very interesting and very accurate aptitude testing procedures. Both of my boys were lucky enough to be able to take them on a Saturday while in high school. They were right on target.

Try through your school counselor to find where you can take these tests or ones like them to learn more about yourself, your interests and where your abilities lie.

To the degree that your interests and abilities lie in an area where the armed forces are able to both train and provide you with experience in an area of interest, what is the downside? If they can not, at least you will know what type of training you will need be it college or a trade school.

One other piece of advice: While attending community college, ensure that the TRANSFER counselor - this is a different person than the regular counselor - is your bestest buddy. This is the person who can guide you through the lower division labyrinth having as many classes as is humanly possible be accepted by your next institution of higher education. Also spend some time with a counselor at the 4-year school to make sure that the classes you are taking indeed will be acceptable. Transfer counselor is rarely incorrect but it does happen and it is ultimately your responsiblity to follow up. When selecting the upper division school, make sure that it has a recognized program that excells in your area of study. It will make a difference to a hiring manager. It also demonstrates that you are astute enough to get the best education that you can in your field.

What everyone else has espoused with regard to a college degree is absolutely true when the competition is otherwise relatively equal. Along with being an Eagle Scout the degree demonstrates that you can "stick to it" and finish.

Best wishes to you. Do well, it will pay off many times over.


Russ

 

holy christ thanks for all insite guys. i am not saying college is bad i am jsut strugglin right now to decide if a trade is better for me. i mean i have been workin since i was i was well way to young i dont' regret it though in the summer i work 70-90 hrs on average. and i wear work boots everyday i am a hands on kid show me once how to do something that requires me to take it apart and put back together and make it run i will do it most likely on the first time i try it but when it comes to writting 30 page papers i think that ***** is for the birds. getting dirty and greasy ain't nothin for me hey guys thanks for your help
chris

 

I'm not busting your chops here, but I can kinda see how writing a 30 page paper would be difficult for you. Most careers are going to require you to have exemplary communication skills. That's what the writing of the papers is all about. It's so that when you enter the work force and you have to submit a purchase order or put together a meeting, your subordinates can read your writing. It seems like busy work now, but it gives you the ability to research topics, put together tangeable thoughts about them and present them to others.

These are things that become important in ANY trade.

I worked construction for awhile and because I could write and my boss could not, I was the one that had to put together supply lists and communications between our job site and the builder.

In the Marines, being able to write I became the platoon scribe - which got me out of ALL KINDS of really nasty duties. Firewatch, motivaional runs, etc.

Writing may suck, but it is the art of being able to communicate well. Not enough young people care about this. It truly shows later in life when you are working with a group of idiots - the one's who get it can usually write. The one's that don't, can't.

It's every bit as important as Math and Science. If for no other reason than being able to communicate a concept to someone else.