I would never dream of discouraging anyone from attending a university to further their education in preparation for a career, but I would advise anyone considering going to school before they know what they are going for and without the funds to pay for it to stop and think about that for a while.

I was encouraged to attend college right out of high school without knowing what I wanted to do for work and without the money to pay for it. I took out loans, enrolled in basic classes and wandered around aimlessly for years, changing my major multiple times and feeling more pressure and stress than I ever had experienced before. I was not on any sort of path to an end goal, and yet, everyone kept telling me to just go and figure it out while you’re there. This has probably been the worst advice I have ever received, and because I went along with it before I fully understood what I was getting myself, into I unfortunately accumulated debt that I may never fully repay and wasted valuable time that could have been better spent learning skills in the workforce.

I can’t fully blame anyone for the situation I found myself in, even if I was mislead because most of the people who pushed college on me did it with good intentions. They were just brought up in a different generation. They became adults under different circumstances when college degrees actually helped you land a good job and were much cheaper to obtain. I know that in certain fields they are necessary. One of my best friends recently became a dentist, after 8 years of school. I think the obvious problem though is that almost everyone goes to college these days, with or without a financial plan or a plan in general, and we have believed in the crazy idea that everyone can reach success on the same level. Everyone wants to be at the top, but everyone can’t be at the top. This is where on the job training and vocational programs could come in handy for our society as a whole, but for some reason those are seen as less prestigious than academia.

My takeaway from school was that it did not prepare me for the real world. I wasn’t taught how to do an actual job, nor did I walk away with any useful knowledge that would be applicable to where I am now. I did eventually graduate with an associate of arts in music and now teach private lessons as a side gig, which is is a ton of fun, but doesn’t make enough money to live on.

So how did I find a career? Accidentally, and not because I had degrees listed on my resume or experience in any field other than retail and restaurant. I was waiting tables one evening when an old friend that I hadn’t seen in forever came in. He had recently started working for an insurance company and they were looking for a receptionist. I sent in my resume, interviewed and was promptly offered the job. After several months of working there I had a colleague refer me to a better opportunity in the same field with a different company that was looking for an administrative assistant. I interviewed for and accepted a position there and they immediately invested in me, paying my way through the training and licensing that was required to start a career in that field. It was a total fluke, and ended up not having as much upward mobility as I thought it would so I eventually left and started working for a non-profit.

In a perfect world where corporate greed and economic inflation don’t exist, everyone would have access to the education and career of their choice, but that’s not our reality. The best thing we can do is be realistic, cautious, and know what we want before we throw any time or money at it. If you are anything like me in that you hate school with a burning passion and don’t function well in that environment, don’t go there. There are other ways to discover decent paying jobs that you might enjoy doing, or at least make you feel like you’re making a positive contribution to society. Sometimes it really can just be your work experience, ethic, and the connections you make that get you there, even more so than a college degree.