College isn’t for everyone.

This commonplace first affected my life in elementary school, when we all had to do quizzes to decide what job would be best suitable for us. A lot of people were getting doctor, or lawyer, or something professional that would require many many years of schooling. Nobody really got jobs like construction working or plumbing, that required less or even no school at all. I thought it was interesting, because the quiz was essentially telling all of us, young kids, that college was required to be successful. I think about this a lot, in college, and wonder why our society puts such emphasis on college equating to success. The commonplace just got stronger in high school, when we’d be required to go to meetings and talk about what colleges we wanted to go to and how we were going to get there. We’d sit in big lectures where the teachers would tell us the importance of college, and it felt like not going wasn’t even an option. 

Although I chose to go to college in hopes of pursuing a career as a lawyer, I believe that college shouldn’t be thought of as a requirement in the path to success. I often worry that my younger brother will feel pressured to go to college and end up not enjoying or benefitting from it at all, and will have wasted a lot of time and money. A lot of people end up going to college without knowing what they want to do, and never figure it out. Then they end up with a degree that they can’t use, or even end up dropping out. I think that high schools and elementary schools should do a better job of teaching children that there are other options besides college, which can lead to even more successful careers. Although college was a necessary step in achieving my goals, it isn’t for everyone. Before I understood this, I thought not going to college was essentially a death sentence, because I never understood how successful someone could be without going. Now, holding this commonplace, I understand that those who don’t go to college aren’t ruining their lives, they’re doing something just as important and will be just as successful.