Sunday, October 29, 2017
To College Or Not To College, That Is The Question
By: Donovan Baldwin
I live with my stepdaughter and her husband.
I'm retired, but they work.
Every morning, I hear them leave for work. Noises from downstairs identify the morning routine. The opening and closing of the front door, the hum of the garage door opener, let me know when they leave.
They are professionals with masters degrees and jobs of a professional level.
Proud of them.
I once lived in that world, but, gave it up and "went rogue", choosing to follow a different path. The 9 - 5, enclosed office, working world was just not my cup of tea.
We tell our kids, at least here in the U.S., that they NEED a college degree to "get ahead". We encourage even the most uninterested child to work towards that piece of paper that identifies them as a college graduate, a "professional" in some field.
That's fine.
Don't mean to belittle that pathway, but, I was one of the ones who never should have spent those years studying accounting, or working as an accountant.
Maybe there was another degree I could have earned that would have caught my imagination. I'll never know now.
I DO know that I spent a lot of my life chasing somebody else's dream.
I've met some really happy, and successful plumbers and mechanics. I treasure the times I was hot, sweaty, tired, and proud of what I was doing.
I'm retired, but they work.
Every morning, I hear them leave for work. Noises from downstairs identify the morning routine. The opening and closing of the front door, the hum of the garage door opener, let me know when they leave.
They are professionals with masters degrees and jobs of a professional level.
Proud of them.
I once lived in that world, but, gave it up and "went rogue", choosing to follow a different path. The 9 - 5, enclosed office, working world was just not my cup of tea.
We tell our kids, at least here in the U.S., that they NEED a college degree to "get ahead". We encourage even the most uninterested child to work towards that piece of paper that identifies them as a college graduate, a "professional" in some field.
That's fine.
Don't mean to belittle that pathway, but, I was one of the ones who never should have spent those years studying accounting, or working as an accountant.
Maybe there was another degree I could have earned that would have caught my imagination. I'll never know now.
I DO know that I spent a lot of my life chasing somebody else's dream.
I've met some really happy, and successful plumbers and mechanics. I treasure the times I was hot, sweaty, tired, and proud of what I was doing.
Labels: accountant, accounting, college, college degree, donovan baldwin, retired
# posted by Donovan Baldwin @ 3:27 PM 
