Higher Learning is Not For Everyone

It is nice that we have the option in our country to get all the education possible. That is if we can afford it or have someone pay for it.

However, there is a chance we put too much emphasis on higher education for our young people. Not everyone is college material. We have young people in our country who are capable of success without it. It would be nice to point them in the direction in which they can best use their talent and creativity.

If college is not necessary to accomplish this there is nothing wrong with that.

All of us know people that we grew up with who never got college degrees and were successful in life. There is the business owner who started out right after high school with nothing, found out what they were good at, then used that talent and acquired the people and resources necessary to become a success.

There are the people who go to school and learn a trade. That trade may be plumbing, carpentry, electrician, mechanical. All these skills fit in with our society. Without people who can do these things our towns and communities are lacking.

And let us not forget about those in agriculture. Farming is such a skilled science. It takes expertise to raise a crop of any kind. It takes knowledge of the soil in which one is planting. It takes knowledge to know what crops can grow in the soil. A feel for the weather. To know what is necessary to grow livestock properly.

We valued farmers in America at one time. Today, not so much.

There is nothing wrong with a young person deciding that they do not want to go to college but would rather do manual labor.

Operating heavy construction equipment takes talent. If it did not, then everyone could excavate land or pave a road. Driving a dump truck or tractor trailer requires an upgraded license for a reason. It is a skill that not everyone has.

We need bus drivers for our schools and mass transit systems. This is another profession that seems less valued today.

There is nothing wrong with working for the sanitation department. Someone must clean up our cities and towns. All one must do is look at our cities that overrun with trash to find this out.

We always praise our first responders, emergency medical technicians and police officers. As we should. There are a number first responders that never step on a college campus.

There are noble professions where one does not need a college degree. They only need training on the job. Then through experience they become good at what they do.

These people and their lives should be valued just as much as the higher educated.

There is nothing wrong with young people not going to college.

There may be something wrong with us emphasizing that the only way they can make it in life is if they do.