4 min read
Sunlit fork in the forest path
Introduction
This is arguably one of the most significant and life-impacting choices you’ll probably ever make ever.
However, that’s not meant to demotivate you, but rather lift your hopes up in regards to what the future has in store. In truth, there’s a lot that’s available and all it takes is a quick glance.
Nonetheless, it’s also not me saying that it’s an easy decision at all. I know that it absolutely is not. For practically all of us, it’s down to two real choices: college or job. Of course, there’s other options like the army, gap year (though you probably shouldn’t take one), or even moving and starting your new life. For some of you, that might not be a bad choice at all.
Although I don’t have the greatest insight to provide with respect to the “how to spend the rest of my life” subject, I will tell you everything I know and the way that I see it altogether. We all should have someone there to help us when we’re unsure.
I hope I get to be that person for you today.
Measuring Each One Of Your Options
At the time I’m writing this, some of you have probably already committed. Not many, but a respectable amount for sure. I know well that I should’ve written this post entirely much sooner than I am currently writing it, but I’m ok in knowing that it’ll eventually help people months or years down the line regardless.
Most of the people I know well still aren’t sure on what to commit to yet. Some acceptance letters are still yet to arrive and it’s just a matter of waiting and seeing.
Below is a long list of questions that you need to safely and truthfully answer to determine what route is the best one for you. Make the wrong choice and you could lose 2-5 years of your life. However, regardless of the choice you make, you are never “doomed”.
Ask Yourself These:
- Do you enjoy learning in classrooms, reading, writing essays, or structured work? Do you not?
- Are you okay with 4+ more years of school and likely loads of debt, or do you want to start making money now?
- How do you feel in a structured environment with strict rules? (military = high structure, gap year / job = low structure + high flexibility)
- Do you have any strong interests or skills that shape your character? (this is where pursuing a trade is actually great)
- What’s your financial situation? Can you take on debt?
- How good are you in independent and entirely new environments? (if poor, military AND moving abroad are definitely not good choices)
- Has High School burned you out, or would you like to maintain current momentum?
- Technically speaking, you’ve never taken a “gap year” before. Taking one could absolutely destroy your sense of self and pace altogether if you don’t have a good structure that you’re comfortable adapting within. These are your bounds.
Comparison of the Main Routes
- 4-year University
- Pros: Networking opportunities, job opportunities, prestige for certain careers, higher long-term earning potential, college experience/social life (though moving abroad might fulfill this inner social expectation better)
- Cons: Can be undeniably expensive (100k+ debt in some cases), takes 4-6 years, you might still feel lost after graduating, can take a while to find a high-paying job regardless of the degree
- Community College (CC for short) –> Transfer OR Associates
- Pros: Much cheaper than a university, smaller classes, can live at home and commute every day, explore majors without committing, can transfer to a university after two years (even an ivy league!), many good 2-year degrees can lead straight to a job
- Cons: You won’t get the “college experience” that a university offers, and uncomfortable to bring up for it’s negligible prestige (though, all things considered, means nothing)
- Trade School / vocational / apprencticeship
- Pros: usually short (6 months-2years), much cheaper ($5k-$30k total most times), high demand and high pay right from the get go, hands-on (plus for people who dislike traditional teaching methods), recommended over college across American surveyors
- Cons: physically demanding, less flexibility if you change your mind later
- Military
- Pros: pay + benefits from day 1, GI Bill covers trade school and college costs later (typically 100%), discipline/skills/training, travel/adventure opportunities, hiring preference, great option for those that don’t know “what” to do after high school
- Cons: Commitment (usually about the same length of time as you would going to a 4-year uni), risk of injury, can delay other dreams in the process (as it would expand the frame of time of military + going to school to almost a decade)
- Job Route
- Pros: Immediate income, real-world work experience, no debt, figure things out fast + opportunity for rapid adaption to the world environment, lots of entry-level jobs promote quickly (and best of all? job experience right out of the gate!) –> ANDDD also a good idea if you’re looking for some quick and easy money for an entrepreneurial venture
- Cons: Lower starting pay, can be extremely demanding, can make you feel “stuck” if you have no plan
- Gap Year
- Pros: Time to mature, work, travel, get to know yourself, and avoid burnout at such an early phase in your life. Many individuals who take gap years end up doing better in college later. Can help with saving money and accumulating less debt in the long-run (by this I mean a 4-6 year period).
- Cons: Major possible risk of losing momentum if not structured (and by structured I mean you have a plan of action for the years or even months (depending on your level of intricacy) that follow after the year’s over, parents and relatives might worry or even look down on you, harder to get back into the school rhythm
- Personal Advice: Taking a gap year might be ideal if you’re truly burnt out. If you’re undecided, I recommend taking the cc/army route but not a gap year route. However if what you need is a break, a really long break, than a gap year might be for you. What’s important is that you have at least some small source of income or amount of money saved up for you to work and adventure with (because that’s what it’s all about) –> make it purposeful and make it a year to remember, the worst thing you can do is just relax and do nothing all day (make it the year of your dreams)
- Moving Abroad
- Pros: Life-changing perspective, newly acquired language skills that could shift and rotate your impact and economical value, sometimes easier visas for younger people, can give you the real gap year that you might need open your world to new possibilities beyond just living in your home country and finding an apartment
- Cons: Expensive to start (in many cases), no safety net, might even fall into debt if not careful –> better as a gap year choice than a 5 or 10-year plan
A Couple Things I Felt Like Adding (Please Read)
And a little something I’d like to add…or maybe two, or three things:
- Your life after high school is yours to decide and play with (maybe not for all of you, but for some). Do the things you’ve always wanted to do and daydream yourself of doing. The human and youthful experience is all about experiencing and doing all the things older people wish they were still able to do. If you have the money to travel abroad, and visit Finland, Portugal, or Japan, then go for it. Sure, it may be nerve-racking. But at the end of the day, you got to experience something people wish they got to experience even decades after hitting their 18th birthday. I’ll make sure to take advantage of every opportunity because I know that’s the right thing to do.
- You don’t have to attend college just because you applied to them. By this I mean, just because you filled our your CommonApp profile and wrote your essay doesn’t put you in a position where you’re forced to lock in on one university and give up all other plans. As long as you didn’t go Early Decision I or II for any of them, you aren’t forced into anything. If your ideal post-high school plan doesn’t incorporate university or even cc in it, don’t do it. There’s a juicier fruit to pick that’s just waiting for you to pick it.
- Don’t feel ashamed even if people look down upon you. This includes family. You won’t always have things figured out and at times, you’ll feel like the world is upside down and attempting to shake you off. There’s plenty of opportunity in the world; the hard part is taking the necessary action and searching for it. Moving forward is hard when no one believes in you. I don’t know that feeling because I never experienced it. I can’t tell you what I’d really do. Humans are unpredictable at times and susectipble to even the smallest and most insignificant of influences. However, I know for certain that I won’t let some inconvenience get in my way. This is your story and you’re the author. Unless you give someone else the pen and your brain, they can’t finish the story the way you would.
End.
Conclusion
What’ll never make sense to me is how teenagers are expected to make a life-changing decision that shifts (either negatively, positively, or neutrally) the next 2-5 years of their life in an unpredictable pattern. No one really knows what to expect in the future and it’s a burden that’s far too heavy for a majority of people to carry.
However, I guess it’s because I’ve never really given it much thought. 18 is the year you legally become an adult and can really push the limits of what you were previously unable to do. Even driving becomes a right rather than a privelege!
Some might say it’s awesome and a great thing that’s bound on all of us. I partially think so too. What matters at the end of the day is finding where your place is in the world.
