A Few Thoughts….. College is not for everyone and it’s nothing about which to be ashamed
By Rich Luongo
editorial_66431@verizon.net
The dream of most parents is to have their children go to college, to excel in the land of academia, maybe even going for a Master's Degree.
Many parents don't want to hear the truth, though: their kids may not be college material. When I was in college (at Flintstone University) the figure often quoted by educators at the time was that at least 50 percent of those in college should not be there. It would venture to say that figure is higher today.
It's been driven into our minds that we have to attend college to be a success. Is that true? Do we all have to have letters after our names to show we've become someone? Frankly, that's a lot of nonsense.
Do we need more lawyers or accountants or architects or doctors or MBAs? Do we need all those who are graduated each year? We really don't need more lawyers. We have more attorneys in this country than all the other nations in the Western World combined.
And not everybody has the ability to be a doctor or a member of what we call the "professions." That's just the way it is.
We've always been led to believe that in order to make a good buck you need a college degree.
Years ago, when I was first married, the nicest and most luxurious house on our block was owned by a local plumber, not someone with a college degree. He was educated, obviously. He had to learn the trade to be a success, and apparently he was (if all the trucks parked in the garages behind his house were an indication of his success).
We need plumbers. We need carpenters. We need masons. We need electricians. We need construction people. We need all the crafts. You don't need a college education to be successful in them. You can go to college later, for self-esteem, perhaps, but you won't be pressured to get a sheepskin to make it. You have to go to school, yes, to learn your craft or be an apprentice or whatever it takes. But you don't need a college degree.
If you watch the Food Network on cable you'll see chefs make a good living. Most go to specialty schools to learn the food industry, which is a rough business and tedious but when you make it, you can earn six figures a year. And if you get your own TV show, seven figures or more if you count the endorsements and books. Many do get degrees in the culinary arts and learn every aspect of the business, including behind the scenes. Most of us are never told about the food industry and how well you can do in it. Be a lawyer, an accountant, a doctor…that was all we heard.
It's getting tougher and tougher to get into college. The tuition is obscene so your child opts for a scholarship to make the grade but if he or she fails at that they'll think they have failed at life. Nonsense. Look at the crafts. Take some business courses at a county college and open a business. You can be a success without a college degree.
College is not for everyone and it's nothing about which to be ashamed.
The author is a former editor of the Haddon Herald, a feature editor for The Collingswood Retrospect. He was also adjunct teacher at Camden County College. Presently he is a freelance writer for a number of newspapers in the Philadelphia/South Jersey area.
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