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Friday, January 24, 2014

Not being college material...

I've been wanting to share this blog post I found at Instapundit. A man recognizes that he wasn't college material and glad he wasn't. Here's a main point from him of course this is after saying "don't send your kids to college":
If they aren’t actively pursuing a career that fundamentally requires a college degree, don’t encourage them to go.

We set up an artificial construct whereby degrees were suddenly “needed” for things like business, sales, and even writing. This house of cards is beginning to tumble, as employers are realizing that, shockingly, they need people who can actually DO the job. They need talent — not paperwork. New college graduates are left unemployed because they often expect too much and offer too little.

And, all along, whatever society says, and whatever direction the schools push our kids, one fact has always remained: if you want to be successful at something, you must do it and do it well. That’s what I’ll tell my kids when they’re old enough. That’s what I’d like to tell all of my fellow young people. It’s not enough anymore, and I’m not sure it ever was enough, to simply follow the well-traveled roads, accumulate your grades and your degrees and then emerge into the world, waiting for wealth and prosperity to rain down upon you from heaven.

You have to put some skin in the game. You have to find your niche and master it. You have to be the best. Conquer it, whatever it is that you want to do. Be better than everyone. Be a visionary while everybody else is checking the handbook. Take risks while everybody else stays cozy and comfortable. Be good at something. Then, once you’re good, become great.
Hmmmm, the top part is a great idea and perhaps of importance to those who seek a career in some technical or scientific field. We really need those right now. There's always time for someone to study a subject in the humanities or social sciences.

Skin the in game, well that probably means something but unsure what he's trying to say. My explanation is what I've stated earlier, if my child wants to go to college s/he has my support. However, they have to put some money up themselves and it's got to be something they want. Like I said, I would support them but this has to be what they want. I would easily support them if they wanted to do something else other than go to a university.

It's something I wish I had done before taking the plunge, but hey if only I knew then. ;)

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