Column: What if I don't go to college?
Published: Friday, April 11, 2008 - 3:50pm
WE ALL APPLIED to Uni High with the future in mind to some extent.
From the tender age of 12 or 13 we’ve all had college on the brain. After four years of challenging classes, strenuous homework loads, standardized tests, and hours devoted to extracurricular activities, the obvious step is to apply to a few elite colleges and hope for the best.
Or so it has been engrained into our minds.
What happens if after five years of what is essentially excellent college prep, a student decides that college may not be the natural or immediate next step?
The college process is finally winding down for many seniors, and the hottest topic up for discussion is which colleges people got into and where they are thinking of going. I think a better question is a less specific one:
“What’s next?”
My teachers, counselors, friends, and family have enticed me to believe that after high school at Uni, students go to college or are prevented from doing so by an unfortunate, tragic, and de-habilitating event. Basically, it’s either college or death.
I realize that the reason we all applied to Uni in the first place is because we are interested in learning as much as we can and having an impact on our future communities. Yet, that impact doesn’t always have to be attained through academia.
Many students at Uni have passions and talents for art, theater, community service, and athletics that don’t necessarily need to be or can be pursued through a standard university education.
Around the time that students graduate for high school they are at their most energetic and explorative point in their lives. Maybe spending a year or so following a certain passion, interest, or talent is more crucial and intelligent than rushing into an intense education.
Time spent exploring the elements that make up one’s self is time well spent whether it is in college now, college soon, or college never.
Note: An earlier version of this column appeared as an entry in the Gargoyle staff blog.
Comments
"Told 'em I finished school,
"Told 'em I finished school, and I started my own business / They say, 'Oh, you graduated!', No, I decided I was finished."
I think the fact that higher education (and 'aiming high', so to speak) is considered a necessity for a 'successful' life is sort of a joke.
Comments to Anna
Hi Anna,
Thanks for posting your article. I am saddened that the message you have received at Uni High is "college or death." The college planning and application process is a developmental one, and students approach this with varying degrees of intensity. Part of our SSO programming to assist upperclassmen with this process is to approach this [with each student (family)] on an individual basis ... and "time out" (or gap years from college) are embraced, discussed, and celebrated. In my 15 years at Uni, I have had students attend college; defer college; postpone college (for even 2 or 3 years); or start college and leave for the workforce. I would hope that Uni students would feel that their future plans (and dreams after high school) are listened to, discussed and embraced -- by counselors, friends, teachers, and family alike. I would love to talk with you more about this, Anna. :-) Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us.
Sincerely,
Lisa Micele
Director of College Counseling
UNI HIGH
College or Bust?
I would add to what Lisa Micele said that many in the Uni community do not see a mandatory move from the hallowed halls of Uni to the ivy-covered halls of Elite U. My wife worked with a Uni grad that did not go to college until he was in his late 40s. In his early 50s, then, he was doing a medical residency.
I must say, though, that I cringed, Anna, at the "few elite colleges and hope for the best" line. What worries me the most at Uni is the mind set that there are a "few elite colleges" that are the only ones Uni grads can attend. How sad! Wonderful colleges exist out there that Uni students never see because of the mind set that only a "few elite colleges" are worthy places for an education and success in life. If the Uni community does the students a disservice, I think it is not in thinking you have to go immediately to college but that only a "few elite colleges" are available so you "hope for the best."
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