Written & published by Kevin Beard Jr.
Food for thought - College / school is not for me:
Recently, I've been getting a lot of questions lately that have to deal with college & why I don't attend any college, trade school, or any other schools for that manner. So in this blog, I will, very thoroughly, discuss the story & the reasons that eventually lead up as to why I don't go to college or any other school.
Before I begin though, this blog is not meant to put those down who do attend college or other schools out there. Good for you for doing what you want with your life. I truly wish everyone the best in whatever they're majoring in, with all respect. But let's face it, you hear so many stories about what makes young teenagers, Men & Woman like yourself want to go to college, but you don't hear as many stories or reasons as to what makes a person (like myself) not want to attend college or any other school after they've graduated high school. So in a way, I feel as though I should share with you all, my own personal story & reasoning's of not going to college or any other school.
So let's begin:
When I was only a little kid (before kindergarten) I remember that I was asked by my parents what I would want to be when I grew up. Who would know at such a young age what they would want to be 100% when they reach adulthood? Anything could change from now until then. I knew for a fact that when I was at that age -- I didn't know what I wanted to be for sure when I grew up & I sure wasn't thinking about it due to the fact that I was still a baby who had no idea about the real world (as anyone this age would expect)
During my elementary school years, I was a quiet kid in class who hardly spoke to anyone, especially when it came to discussions on what we desired to be when we grew up. I kept to myself about a lot of things. I was anti-social. I didn't want to be involved in discussions, or group projects & so fourth. Still, when I had to be involved, I was very low spoken & not that energetic.
Anyhow, during my elementary school years, I would always be asked to share what I would want to be when I grow up & I would always say, "I don't know." I had no clue & didn't care much to put any thought into what I wanted to be. I was very young & honestly didn't care. The only thing I was focused on was getting good grades, doing my work & getting out of school so I could go home & be with myself. Still, I would always have thoughts running through my mind about why elementary teachers & why my parents consistently ask "what I want to be when I grow up" as if they didn't already ask me 20 times throughout my Elementary years. While still in elementary school, I remember my teachers & staff having classroom discussions on what we wanted to be when we grew up, as well as projects that we had to do. Since I always kept to myself, I would always talk to myself & ask myself, "Do I HAVE to choose what I want to be when I grow up?" I had refused to ask that question out loud, as I know that if I did, I wouldn't like what the answer would be, due to the fact that I was irritated enough that teachers & parents would consistently ask me. That being said, I kept to myself inside & outside of school. I didn't interact much with the outside world at all. I was a homebody. I grew up playing PlayStation & driving simulators almost every day after school. At the time I wasn't interested in learning anything about the outside world, or learning how to play an instrument, or sport, or learn how cars work, or learning how to cook & do this & that & so fourth. Those thought's about learning something or becoming something or someone for my future never came about. I was always a young kid at heart & always in my own little world most of the time. I enjoyed more of my time spent outside of school.
During my middle school years, I was very mature for my age. I was always very neat, clean & organized with my stuff. My mom said I took after her & that I had developed a "thing" for cleaning in general as well as maintaining things, such as my own belongings. Anyway, I considered myself a hard worker during school. I got good grades & I never failed a grade. However, I still didn't change much in terms of my personality though, as I was still a homebody, I was always quiet & kept to myself about a lot of things. I wasn't as energetic & optimistic as everyone else was. I also hated how loud, obnoxious & immature everyone was. I didn't want to make a lot of friends. In fact, I kept a small circle of friends who had the same understanding & maturity level as I did.
Anyhow, during my middle school years is when the teachers started to reinforce the fact that soon we would enter "high school" & would have a better understanding or idea on what we would want to be when we grow up. I remember being in classrooms where the teachers would give us projects about careers that we had to do research on. There were times when the teachers would start picking us out of the crowd & ask us what we wanted to be when we reach adulthood. I replied & I said, "I don't know. I'm taking 1 day at a time. When I get there, then I'll decide." One of the teachers replied & said, "You still have time to decide, but I'm worried about you, what are you going to do after you graduate high school? College is important, you need to go." In my mind, I'm not thinking much about what the teacher is saying. I replied with a blank face & said "Okay." During my 8th grade year (last year of middle school) is when I remember hearing teachers & staff begin to introduce & talk to us about colleges for the first time & how to pick the right colleges for what you picture yourself to be after high school. What?! Colleges already? I still wasn't sure what I wanted to be yet & quite frankly, I still didn't put much thought into it. I was more concerned & focused about my current grades, rather then thinking about something that's not going to happen for another 5+ years. I kept saying to myself, "I'll take 1 day at a time, for each day is a blessing in it's own way." I will say that those around me in class seemed more ambitious about the future then I was. They had somewhat of a better understanding of what they wanted to be when they got older & also seemed eager & wanted to go to college based on all the "good" reasons that the teachers presented. Even though I didn't know what I wanted to be or know much about college (or if I wanted to go) I felt like I was falling behind. At this point, it seemed like college was mandatory. I felt as though teachers would harass & manipulate me with the same questions over & over again about whether or not I'm deciding on what I want to do after high school & if so, what college was i thinking about. I was fed up with it. Though I somehow managed to not fall into any pressure of finding out what i wanted to be or looking at colleges, it was quite annoying to say the least. Again, all I wanted to do was get good grades, do my homework & leave the school building so I could go home & be a homebody for the weekend. I still wasn't interested in learning anything about the outside world or anything in particular that is of interest of a possible career that would require a college education.
During my high school years, I started to learn how to drive, but didn't have a car yet. My personality was still the same though. I was always neat, clean & organized, both at home & in school. I was still a quiet person when I was around others in class. In my mind, I hated school. I didn't make a lot of friends, due to the fact that I wanted a small circles of friends. Furthermore, the students were even more immature then middle school & the classrooms were sometimes loud & obnoxious to the point where the teachers would have to pause every so often because of a "student" doing stupid things. I honestly couldn't stand a minute of it. I still kept thoughts to myself, but I only spoke to the teachers when I needed too & hardly spoke to any students. I was very mature & intelligent for only being in high school. I averaged a 3.0GPA & I was student of the month in December of 2009. I never failed a grade & I was always called a "hard worker" from all my teachers.
Anyhow, during my high school years is when I remember parents & teachers getting very involved & strict about needing to find a college before we graduated high school. I remember doing several projects through 9th to 12th grade. One particular project -- we had to find our "dream" career & write a paper on what the job is like, what you do in the field, what the pay rate is & all this other crazy stuff. Before the project, I remember walking up to the teacher & saying to him that I had no interest in any careers & colleges at the moment. At that point, I was given tests & Q&A's about my likes & dislikes so that teachers & parents could find out what possible careers could match what each college is for so that I could start my project. However, after I finished the test, I still didn't find anything I was interested or passionate about, nor did I want to go to any of the colleges or schools listed. So I picked a random career that I wasn't interested in & went with it just to get the grade. Yes, I had to present the project to the class & i didn't like it at all. I was very low spoken & not that energetic about the "career" I picked. Based on the presentations, It seemed as though most people in my high school knew what they wanted to go to college for at this point based on career projects, as well as the energy & consistency coming from other students while talking about the same careers, colleges & so fourth. Since I was always the quiet kid, I would always hear everyone talk about careers & colleges non-stop with so much energy inside them. One Female teacher even suggested that I should do community college if I wasn't sure what I wanted to do after high school. I remember her saying, "You won't make a lot of money if you don't have a degree. You can't make a living out of a job." I felt insulted & highly offended by that statement, mostly because I knew that wasn't true. I felt like I was a little kid being coached by a teacher on what I SHOULD do with my life, when I'm the one who will ultimately make the decision with all due respect. However, I wasn't going to fall into that trap again of feeling pressured to go to a college, or a community college, or a trade school & so fourth just because teachers & students act as though it's the "norm" to go to college, or any school for that manner. I wanted to be different from everyone else & be my own leader, not a follower of the crowd. I had so many thoughts running through my head during my high school years. In my mind, I'm thinking that teachers & also parents are extremely close minded & wouldn't accept the fact that there's still rare people like myself who don't want to attend college, or any other school for that manner because they rather work a full time job after high school while moving up & earning more money without having to pay back 80,000 dollars in debt for going to a school that's pointless for their life path. Again, thought's are running through my head. I ask myself, "What's wrong with that? It's no different then finding a good starter job, earning higher job positions, & making more money that way. It's the same thing as "earning" a degree & earning more money afterwards. It works the same way. Everybody has to start somewhere.
So as I head into my last year of high school, I would always think to myself & say, "why would I want to pay money towards colleges or another other school that I have no interest in or won't benefit me in any way, shape, or form?" Is it because teachers / parents want to sound biased about college by only telling me the good things about college, instead of giving the good & the bad? Or is it because I've done my own research on how careers & colleges work & it's my choice & I can do what I want to do & think for myself without feeling harassed & manipulated with information that you think I would WANT to hear about career's, colleges & so fourth? At this point -- In my mind, I'm starting to believe that our school systems are misleading many of it's students. Students are being told by teachers & parents that the magic ticket to a "great" life is “go to college" & you’ll get a "good job." No need for passion. No need for leadership. No need for maturity. No need for people skills. No need for honing passion & drive. No need to learn negotiation. No need for personal application. All you have to do is follow the yellow brick road & you’ll get there. That's totally wrong & I disagree 100%. At this point in my high school year, I knew I didn't want to be anything or anyone in particular as a career choice. Mind you, I'm not picky either, it's just that I have no interest or a passion for things that WOULD require going to college or any other school, although teachers & parents will make it seem like you NEED a college degree to have a good job. I disagree with that. There's MANY factors that go into having a "good" job & college is only ONE of them. At this point, I'm pretty straight-forward with my beliefs. In my heart, I knew that not going to school / college would be a better option for me. Yet, I never bothered to tell my teachers or anyone else because they would only reply back with the same old, same old. I always kept my thoughts to myself while having to sit in classrooms & have meetings about "careers" & "colleges" that I have absolutely no reason to sit & listen too. I will admit that hearing others speak about career's & colleges & so fourth became annoying & repetitive, almost to the point where it was torture. I was tired of it. All I wanted to do was graduate high school, get my diploma & then go from there while I take 1 day at a time.
After I graduated high school, I took each day at a time. I wasn't stressing about careers or colleges. In fact, I purposely took a 2 month break from everything (just to treat myself) before I started getting down to business. My parents understood that & were on my side. During these past 2 months is when I started to do "blogging" in my free time to help give advice, encouragement, guidance & inspiration to young teenagers, Men & Woman with life problems using social media.
So after 2 months (while still doing blogging on the side) is when I started to do my own research on jobs that I could see myself doing that didn't require a college education of any sort. I had found quite a handful of jobs that seemed of my interest. Most of them were in Philadelphia. These jobs didn't make "a lot" of money, but then again, money isn't everything to me. In my opinion, these were great starter jobs to eventually move my way up & earn higher positions & pay. Anyway, I applied to a full time cleaning / maintenance position downtown that didn't even start their business yet. It was called B&E services. It was a 6AM to 2PM job Monday through Friday, so I would spend half of the day working & the other half to do whatever I want. Plus I had off weekends & got paid on holidays. Basically I was already hired for a job that was brand new & didn't even start yet, how cool is that? It's a fresh start for everyone. So eventually -- once the job started, I got trained on how to do certain things & how to complete certain tasks & other things until I got into the pattern. Since then, It's been years since I started working there. I still work there today. I've been working the same job for many years. I've seen people come & go. In fact, I'm 1 of the 2 original workers that haven't quit or left the job since it started. Everybody else are new workers. However, with me -- I love the job, I got compliments from workers & strangers left & right about how hard of a worker I am, as well as how neat & clean I am at maintaining the building & making everything as healthy as possible. I also never called out sick for years. On top of all that, I got 3 different pay raises & also bonuses at the end of the year.
While I was working this job, I eventually i started to save up for a car, which didn't take more then 2 years. Although I knew how to drive in high school, I didn't have a car. I eventually got a 2007 Subaru (four-cylinder) with only 67k miles on it for 7,000 dollars which I paid the full amount for from a private exchange through Craigslist. After I bought the car, I started to commute a lot on the turnpike, to the point were I would have to get a full tank of gas once or twice a week. Gas in my car is about $30 on average but that wasn't a problem. I would also go through Ez pass money quickly due to the fact that I take the turnpike a lot, which was never a problem (money wise.) After I got my car & started to commute a lot, there would be problems every once & a while with my car, but what car doesn't have problems? If I remember right, I put about 3,000 dollars into the car to maintain it. While maintaining my car, I then started to pay my own cell phone bill monthly & I even got a new Samsung phone. I also started helping my parents out by paying rent monthly because rent can be expensive depending on how hard you get hit with taxes. To this day I still help my parents pay rent. Furthermore, my parents don't cook as much at home, so I usually support my own self by getting food for myself almost everyday. I also treat myself every once in a while by buying things that I need, or things that look cool to have. Going back to what I said before, I may not make "a lot" of money, but with all of the above things mentioned, I am still maintaining my bank account & have had no issues with money.
Furthermore, I also still blog in my free time, which I love doing after work. I won't stop blogging no matter what job I have. That's what I do in my free time. Now some of you may ask why I'm not a consular or pastor since I like to help people all the time through my blogs? Well, I feel like I shouldn't be paid to help others when helping others with their problems should be free. If you love others, you will do everything in your power to help them in your free time, whether you have a degree or not. When it comes to doing simple things in life, such as helping others with their problems or giving advice & inspiration -- I feel like I don't need a "degree" or "education" for that. If I don't know of something or not aware of it, I'll do my own research to educate myself. Thanks to YouTube & the internet in general, I can teach myself just about anything for free. I won't let a "degree" stop me from doing something that everybody should be doing for free. I believe in doing my own research when the circumstances are necessary. I also certainly don't look at giving advice, encouragement, guidance & inspiration as a "money gimmick" either, because I'm not about money. If deep down inside -- I love helping others through the internet or in person, then I'm going to continue doing what I'm doing in my free time while I work my primary job (which I love doing as well.) But if you think I'm going to say, "no, I can't help you because I don't have a degree in helping others" then that's the most ridicules statement ever.
Again, I'm not here to bash those who go to college, or any school, but I'm going to give you more of my own reasons why I personally don't go to college or any other school. This is not meant to offend anyone. Just remember that these reasons down below are coming from a different perspective rather then what others typically would think.
Here's my 7 reasons:
1. My success (as an individual) has almost nothing to do with education. Success, in my opinion is about personal development, (learning how to do some things on my own) self-control, (learning how to present myself in public) integrity, (taking pride in what I do) communication skills, (learning how to talk to others in a mature manner without sounding immature) relationships (building with workers, or those around me) & a learner’s heart (willing to learn new things even if I wasn't taught how during school) So in other words, my own success comes from just doing, not "learning" how to do.
2. If I went to college, It would feel like a waste of time to me because most degrees take a while to complete. For example, if I went to college & got a bachelor’s degree, It would typically take myself about 4 to 6 years or possibly longer to earn that degree & complete everything. Personally, I don't like that, especially in this day & age because the world changes too rapidly for myself to waste time pursuing something that I sought out to accomplish close too or about a half decade prior. By the time I would graduate with my bachelor’s degree, there would be a high probability that either the career or profession that I sought 4 to 6 years prior no longer exists, or has been completely disrupted. The world changes so quickly that the information I would had learned for the past 4 - 6 years could be slowly diminishing.
3. If I went to college, 9 times out of 10 I wouldn't be guaranteed the job I want after I graduate college. For example, if it's been 4 to 6+ months since I graduated & yet, I'm still looking for my dream career that I got my degree for, but yet It's time to start paying back student loans & other kinds of bills / payments, then what good does that do for me? That means I'd either have to have an internship (which is only temporarily) or I'd have to work somewhere that wouldn't be in my field just to make some money in the meanwhile. Who would want to do that? If I have your degree, I should be able to use it right away, or find someplace that will take me in & hire me on the spot, but unfortunately that's not the case due to how bad our economy is.
4. If I went to college, then a ton of debt would have a way of weighing myself down. Why would I want to owe anywhere from 30,000 to 80,000 dollars in debt? If I owed that much, I wouldn't be able to buy the things that I need to start my life right away. I'd feel held back in life. In Proverbs it says, “Just as the rich rule the poor, so the borrower is servant to the lender.” So what that's saying is that the early years of adulthood were intended for people to build, not dig themselves out of a hole (or debt) in this case. Personally, I'm glad I don't owe any debt & that I'm debt free. It personally makes my life a whole lot easier to pay off other bills that are, in my opinion, more important to me then student loans. For example: rent, food, cell phone, toll booths, car, gas money & etc.
5. If I went to college, I wouldn't feel as independent. I would always be coached & taught by teachers "how" to do something. I would always be responsible for participating in classrooms discussions with other kinds of people. I would always be responsible for doing homework. I would always be responsible for getting good grades, & participating & completing projects. I would be given a "schedule" on when to come to class. I would always have a "lunch" or "dinner" time or whatever you want to call it. The point here is that I refuse to go through all that again. All these reasons are not why I graduated high school. The reason why I graduated high school was so I could get job a full time job & get into the real world right away & start earning money to get my life the way I want it to be. For someone who doesn't go to college, I strive to be as independent as I can be.
6. If I went to college, then I would feel as though I'm in high school again with a bunch of kids, especially because there are some people who bring their immaturity into college. Personally, I don't like loud & obnoxious people who shout & say random, stupid things while having discussions or lectures & etc. It's bad enough that I had to deal with immature people in high school, but college? No thanks. I also don't like those who pick on others like in Elementary school, (& believe me, there's a few of them.) I don't have time for that. I rather deal with mature people who are understanding. I'm also not about that "party" life where Men & Woman go out to drink & smoke until they get drunk at a party or at a dorm or whatever you call it. I have my own way of having fun & it doesn't require any of that.
7. If I went to college online, I would feel trapped at home or wherever my laptop / computer takes me. I'd get stuck with online courses, tests, book reading, homework & so fourth. For example, if you are someone who wasn't too sure about college, but decided to take online courses for the sake of it, then you would prepare yourself for having to learn information that you will probably never need to know or do in your life. I rather be independent in a way where if I ever use a computer or laptop, then it's because I'm doing something that will benefit not only myself, but other people in my own ways. Such as helping others give advice, encouragement, guidance & inspiration through social media using the knowledge in my own head & using information that I have researched on my own.
In conclusion, I'm not trying to persuade others that college or any other school is bad. However, I feel like college shouldn't be the "default" answer after high school for many students. I totally understand that teachers & parents are only trying to help you for your future, but remember that the decision on YOUR success does not depend on what others think or want you to do. Your success is based on your own decisions & goals. Remember folks, college is only an option. You can either go to a different school or not go to school at all & still be a successful person. It's not mandatory for you to go to ANY school after high school. Now If you're someone who really wants to go to college or any other school despite everything it comes with, then that's a good thing & you should keep at your goals. However, people like myself tend to look at colleges & schools in a different perspective while still respecting the other side.
Written & published by: Kevin Beard Jr.
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