We, as students and young people, are often pushed to follow the idea of the American Dream. We are told that we have to follow a certain path to make our way in the world so that our future descendants will be able to live a better life than we did. We have to study hard so we can make good grades, so we can make it into good colleges, so we can get high paying jobs, so we can support ourselves and our families and the people we are responsible for. We are told that we must prepare for this picket-fence-suburban-lifestyle from before we are in middle school. If we don’t live up to expectations, we threaten our security and our safety. And that’s suicide, basically, they tell us. But that’s not how it really is, is it? It doesn’t really matter what school it is you go to, any degree is a degree. It doesn’t matter whether you got it from Ball State or Harvard or welding school. If you have the skills you need to do your job well, then you are going to do that job great. And even if you spend thousands of dollars to get a good degree from a good school, if you can’t do your job then you can’t do your job. Internships are a good thing to invest your time in. They give you the real skills you need that employers are going to appreciate.

Sometimes people simply aren’t ready for college. They aren’t at a place where they are responsible enough or mature enough or self motivated enough to pursue higher education. If they are pressured to spend all that money, then they just fail or drop out and that’s a waste of thousands of dollars spent on something they don’t really care about.

You should be self motivated in your pursuits and do something that really inspires you. We’re not saying that you should not do your homework, or that school doesn’t matter. You should still try. School does give you problem-solving skills and knowledge and other abilities that are applicable in the workplace. It is not, by any means, worthless. Again however, if school seems to be something your mind and heart aren’t wired for, it’s not the end of the world. Grades won’t make or break the rest of your life- the future is half luck, and half willpower. Just have a plan. If you have a plan, and that plan doesn’t happen to include college, that’s cool. Escape suburbia. Follow your dreams. Have a plan. Good luck…