starbum

Im in a bind. Im not sure what to do or what to say.

I'm coming to the time where most people would go to college. Im somewhat of an computer science / graphic design kind of person. I've had loads of experience in doing art for commisions over the years and have a nice little portfolio. However, I am at a standstill. I have a brand new job that is perfect for me. It has a high pay, wonderful enviroment, great people, creative encouragement, benefits, and lots of potential. The boss I have is a instructer at a college for computers so I always learn at the job and he teaches me something new every day. When I started the job, I just knew web design, graphics, and some computer repair. Now I know networking, cisco, how to build cat5e, and all the basics of a+, just to name a few things he's shown me through. The company will pay for my certifications and books if it will benefit my job. I love the job and I feel self worth by doing it. Im truly happy with it.

On the other hand, its time for college. I looked at a few schools that I like and thought they would be interesting. However, my family simply doesnt have alot of money and because we own (not by choice) land in europe, we dont qualify for finacial aid. I dont do well in public schools, I've been homeschooled since I was in 5th grade but went back to HS for 9th and 10th grade. I have a math disability that inhibits my ability to calculate easily. I didnt get great ACT scores either. I wont even touch the SAT because of its reliance on so much math. So in essence, college seems like it would be rough on me.

My father, girlfriend, and friends all pressure me and try to convince me to go to college. I personally feel that college is just to enhance your chances to get the job you want. I feel bad about concidering going to college knowing my family cant afford it, im not smart enough, I cant perform as well as other students, and just.... if I go to college; I risk losing this job. If one of the reasons to goto college is to get the chance to get the job of your dreams, why sacrifice the job of your dreams to goto college? I just dont feel college is necissary for me at the moment. I also feel that if I do lose this job, I can always go to college if I need it. But if I dont feel I need it; why do it? And if this job turns out to be the job that will always be with me, and I went to college, it would just waste my parents money and force them to delay their retirement another 5-10 years.

I just dont know what to do. The way I see it, I have 3 options:

1) Goto college with my gf/friends and risk losing this job, but getting a higher paying job and risk not being as happy.
2) Stay with my job and goto college later if needed, but risking my relationship with my gf/friends by doing this.
3) Instead of going to college goto a technical insitute (like ITT) in the area of the same college my gf/friends are going to, try to continue my job from there, and hopefully keeping my job, getting a better understanding of the IT industry, and keeping my relationships and friends.

I want option 3 to happen. However....it just risks my job, just not as much. I dont know if the company can handle me being away from the office. They depend on me to run the servers and all. I just... with option 3, it just adds problems with where to live and such. My parents would have to help pick up the bills, I guess. gah im so confused.

Help?

Jim Kata

I really don't have much advice on this one, but I will say that not getting my college degree closed many doors for me.
A lady at my work got passed on a promotion for someone with a college degree, even though she had a couple of more years experience. Everything else was pretty much even between her and the guy that got the job.
If at all possible I would try to work at the job and go to college at the same time. Trust me, its not fun, but I believe its worth it.
Besides....do you know how hard it is to go back to school after not going for a while? I was on a 7 year hiatus and it was one of the hardest things for me to do.
Good luck.

Jesus Pimp

Give me your job and go to college <j/k>. Sounds like the job I'm trying to get but can't seem to find. Seriously I would do both. See if your job will help pay for some college. Also don't forget about finacial aid, grants, scholarships etc..

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Johnny Rotten

Could you work part-time at this job and thereby both maintain your place there and help your folks pay for your education? There are a lot of interview room doors that will never even crack open if you don't have a degree on your resume...and no job is forever. An ITT degree won't get you much farther in the job world than the certifications you can get now.

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bigbad

I personally put off school for a couple of years get a job and save up some money for it, so I wouldn't end up as far in debt. A lot of people are doing this now, with plans to go back to school later. There are people of all ages in most of my classes, so it's never too late to go back and get educated.

emphant

How about keeping your job, and taking some night or weekend classes at your local community college?

irseg

If you like what you do and it has the potential to pay more and/or get you into a better job in the future, I wouldn't give it up for college.

I dropped out a year ago after I got fed up with wasting my time and money. Moved away, got a decent job, started a business, and now I'm living very comfortably doing stuff that I love. My friends and family gave me hell at first too and I heard all the stories about how I'd end up starving on the streets because I didn't blow 4 years of my life and thousands of dollars on a sheet of paper, but they've since shut up about it.

rockzilla

I'm going with emphant and suggesting that you try to work full time while taking night and weekend classes. That's what I'm doing. It can make for some pretty long days, but it's worth it. Like you, I've learned tons about my profession through real, hands-on work. You'll find some concepts easier to understand in class if you have some previous experience with the subject matter.
You love your job, you're learning a lot from it, and it pays the bills. Finding a job like that when you're so young is pretty rare. I wouldn't risk that if you don't think full-time school is right for you.

wilbjammin

If the job you have now is the goal of what you'd get after getting your degree, then by all means keep it! It sounds like you're being trained on the job for free what you'd have to otherwise pay for in school. Save your money, and after a year or two of working take a little time off and take classes or do the night class/weekend thing.

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homerhop

I didnt go to collage, got a trade instead which I know is different to your situation.But I was able to advance in my work and am now working in an office.
I got offered a job last week which was paying me a third more than someone who went to collage because I had the experience.
IMO, in my work all those who went to collage should have to do at least a years work experience before they get their degree.

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mtsgsd

not going to college has made life difficult. I've been pretty lucky and eventualy ended up as a database administrator making 70K (and that was low for what I was doing, but I liked the place). Only trouble is, my company was bought and dismantled, I'm now out of a job, and my skills are on a platform that is considered to be going obsolete. With no degree, I've been trying to find a job for 5 months now. Back when the economy was good, this would not have been quite so hard, but it's a buyer's (or hire'rs) market now, and they can afford to be picky.

Get the degree.

starbum

Okay, thank you all for the feedback. I'm leaning more towards more schooling, possibly hopefully keeping my job at the same time.

However; big problem. I suck at school. I've been homeschooled mostly, and when I went back to public for 9th (social decisions), I failed alot of classes at the public school. Im just petrified of the requirements.... I learn hands-on, in real world situations as they are happening or just before. I cant get anything from a big textbook with hypothetical situations that are nearly impossible to occour. I did that when trying to learn cisco at the community college here, I barely knew how to turn them on afterwards because we didnt get to touch a single router. Now with my job, I had to configure one of those routers for a network job, and my company taught me on the spot, and now I know 3x more than before.

Am I just picky about learning or is this actually a problem of mine that is going to make life hard on me in college?

(Oh again, letme just remind everyone that my family cant afford colleges and we dont apply for hardly any financial aid. Im not smart enough for scholarships, either.)

denim

This is a good answer, IMHO. He won't need official "aid" if he's working his way through. Might not finish in four years, but so what?

jwells777

I would say that you should consider how a college degree will help you in the long run. For me, I couldn't do what I do without a few of them, but I have many friends who went through 4+ years and haven't used their degree at all. My number one recommendation for you though is to make the decision for yourself and your future and not to stay close to a friend or girlfriend. As people go through college, their perspective on life tends to change alot, and I have seen alot of High School relationships come to an end as two people grow in different directions.

guru0z

Look there will always be jobs. You wont always have the chance to be a young college student. Every aspect of my life changed when I got to college and if college degrees were useless, Id still probably want to go to college.

pinklily

Being a college student myself, I would be inclined to tell you to go to college, but your circumstances seem to call for different things. I think for one thing that your girlfriend should be more supportive of you making a decision that makes you happy and fulfilled. If this job is everything you say it is then it sounds like a good alternative to school, especially if you could take classes on the side. It's not every day that you can find something that makes you happy. There may be other jobs for after you go to college, but do not also rule out the possibility of going back to school after working for a period.

VitaminH

I'm going to have to vote that you go for the degree as well. There will always be other jobs if you don't manage to keep this particular one. You're just as likely to get a job you like even more post college as you are to get one you like less.

I noticed you have a very strong "I suck, I can't do it attitude." This is all very much a self-fulfilling prophecy my friend. The first step in being sucessful is knowing that you CAN indeed be sucessful. If you go in with an "I'll never make it" attitude, then it is likely that you won't. Public schools are very different that home-schooling I am sure, but over time you'll adjust. You speak also of learning more hands on, you could do your best to take as many classes with labs and such in college so you get as much of a hands on experience as it possible. They are fairly abundant in college.

Go the distance, in the long run I think you will be glad you did it. I'd say at least shoot for option three, some post HS education is becoming more and more necessary every day in the US, while things may look like you're set right now, you may find that in the all-to-near future it all falls apart.


Quickedit: Oh and I forgot, if you get stuck in math classes, use Tilted Knowledge to your advantage! This is a great community and people will surely be willing to help with the occasional question.

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Arbiestsheft04

VitaminH hit the nail right on the head, you really have to believe in yourself. No one will hire you later on if you have this I can't do it attitude. That being said, you have to follow what you love, if that means taking night and weekend classes, do it. You may love the position youre in now, but you gotta eat too if you lose this job.

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Rodney

Okay, I can understand a little. I did get my degree, many years ago in journalism, but I ended up in technical publications, in various computer and software firms. That was in the day when nobody trained tech writers; you walked in cold with a few writing samples, having never seen a computer before, and they showed you a terminal and said, 'learn.' And I did learn, over the years -- database, graphics, layout, desktop publishing, manufacturing ops, server maintenance, system administration, a zillion different apps, and several operating systems. I learned from experts: people who came over to my desk and walked me through things, who were available to talk to me one-on-one, who gave me time to muck about with new pieces of technology and make my own sense of them, hands-on. I did that for 20 years, and wrote a lot of manuals.

So now I'm back in school, and we're trying to learn practical matters by listening to lectures by professors who'd rather be doing research than teaching, reading long boring books, and trying to relate it all to what we do in our field study, if it relates at all and it often doesn't. I'm not going to say that college is worthless, but sometimes it's just about the piece of paper, and some of them -- especially the larger universities -- seem to be run more for the sake and convenience of the professors than for the students. I'm sure not learning as much as I think I should, and I'm trying hard.

So yeah, somewhere down the line not having the piece of paper is going to impact you. But if you're not up for the whole academic grind -- if the book/paper/report thing is just not you -- I wholeheartedly understand, and sympathize. I learned the natural way for 20 years and was paid for it, like you were. The college/academic way is _not natural._ It's mass-produced instruction, with cost efficiency as important or more important than the learning environment.

Tell you what. Keep your job. Take _one_ class, one, in something you need for a degree and that you're also interested in, at night. Try your hardest. See how it works out. But don't risk it all to find out that it's not really for you. I hear other people saying, try, try, but not everybody learns that way, and a lot of people don't learn _well_ that way. If you don't learn well in college, the challenge is to find another way of learning that gets you status in the world 'o work. And they are out there.

The_wall

I'd say keep the job and forget about getting a degree. You have a chance to to get paid well (I assume) at a job you like at such a young age, and thats a rare thing. You can always go back to college later in life, and with the money you make it won't be so bad to pay off those college bills. You could also just put of classes for a semester and see how you like things.

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starbum

Rodney, that was the best responce I have ever seen. Im somewhat inspired and motivated now...

Thank you. I'll concider the one class at night and see how that goes.

flopflop

If you can do a job you like, and it's along your career path then keep it. However get a degree if you can.

If not a degree than some kind of additional education.

I wasn't financially able to finish school, and have many years experience in my career field. I can't find a decent job; half the time any job I go up for requires a degree and therefore I am unqualified. I am on the other end, but I am SO limited becasue I don't have a degree (any degree would do). Consequentially I have jobs that don't pay close to decent, or I can't stand.

It's best to get it, and work on it slowly. No matter how good a job is it probably isn't permannent and a degree (though most of the time actually worthless) will add significant value to you as an employee or potential employee.

Nothing sucks more than having to work years doing something you hate, if you do what you like then do whatever you can to secure that career. A degree and experience will do that.

Keep the job, school on the side (College or ITT)

Trust me.

BoCo

College is over-rated and only pushed because: a) the colleges want your money, and lots of it; and b) it's a great place to indoctrinate young, impressionable minds. My plan is to go learn arcitectural drafting after I hit 30, so I haven't gone to school yet. However, I make nearly $50k a year with full benefits and 4 weeks paid vacation doing a 'normal job'. The fact is, unless you're going into a very specialized field, college is a waste of your time and money. You're better off learning how to trade stocks or real estate with the help of a successful mentor.

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theusername

Just my suggestion, Take night courses at a community college just atleast get a degree. This way if your current job doesnt work out somehow you'll still have other options.

ironchefrocks

Also, just my $0.02, but if you find you're having problems with learning in a classroom environment, most schools have study skills classes they recommend to freshmen, as well as learning centers that are filled with older undergraduate and graduate students just WAITING for someone to come in with questions.

Best of luck!

Shades

Right or wrong, people put a lot of credit in people with degrees. Like some other people said, you have a great job now, but the odds of you keeping that job until you die are nil. When times are good, you can get another job on skills alone, but when the economy goes down, that degree puts you above people without one every time.