The education system seems so fubar right now....The things I want in my life, seem so impossible. I don't mind going to college for 4 - 6 years and learning as much as I can in an area. I'd love to go and study anthropology and ethnobotany or something in that area. But all the state colleges where I live are at least 25K a year! So sure, I can get a loan, and not have to pay a dime untill I graduate. As soon as I graduate, I have huge ass payments. This seems like a trap....it IS a trap.

I don't know what to do really. Is anyone here in the same situation I am?

Should I go with it and take the risk, in hopes to find an enjoyable job in which I can truly study my passion?

If I DONT go to school and get a good degree, I'm stuck making pizzas for the rest of my life. I love the job now, as I'm only 21 years old....but to do that forever, that's like hell...

I'm not in search for money and cars and big houses....I just want to live comfortable and pursue my passion, which is learning about plants and the mind and the world in general. Maybe I'm being too picky haha.

It's a weird situation....it seems so very wrong that we have to put ourselves into debt just to get a job that can cause people to go insane...Unless you're lucky and have money, or good connections, none of those I have.

So anyone wanna chat about it? Some good advice? Moral Support? hehehe

I see what you mean !! It definitely feels like a trap... Well I had the chance to study and get a degree but I'm not using that much right now, I'm waiting for the results of some diploma, if I don't get the credits, I will have to think my way up to a new work/study approach. I will know beginning of april what I can do.
Let's sort something out at this stage !!

The debt burden most graduates leave college with takes years to pay it off. Same with getting a home of your own; it can take 20 - 30 years to pay for it in full. This is the foundation of Western capitalism - debt. In fact, all money is debt. If you want a formal education and a roof over your head, you have debt - unless as you say, you inherit or have connections.

You have choices - you can decide not to be part of this system. Go live in the woods, or with a commune, join the Hutterites, learn to hunt, go on a spiritual journey to India, eschew all money and possessions, etc.

or you can go study, get a job that is interesting and pays well so you can enjoy a certain amount of freedom and reap the benefits of the system that is in place.

But I'd advise against sort of being in the game but not playing it well. That's what I did, and I wouldn't really recommend it to anyone, to be honest.

Instead of studying at college, I joined the Navy. Then I spent years working in kitchens and restaurants, travelling. Finally, at the age of thirty, I got a decent job that suited me and wasn't minimum wage. By that time I had children, responsibilities, and fuck-all money. That is still the case.

I don't own a house - still renting at age 37. No money to repair my car or take my children on holiday over Easter.

Good friends of mine bit the bullet and put their chips on the table - went and studied, took on the debt, the mortgage etc. Now, at the same age as me, they have a lot more options and choices, in my view.

Having said that, I've probably had a more interesting life than a lot of them; but that's probably subjective, and I suppose it's about what's important to you; what yoru priorities are.
But it's your call; your life. And only you know what decisions feel right for you.

Good luck

Thank you 88, that was good to read.

I will agree that sometimes I think my life is a bit more interesting than my other friends who are already finishing med school.

I think, looking back, it was unsureness and laziness. But NOW, I feel like it's not wanting to be apart of the system, or "the game" everyone is playing. I really feel like if I understand it's all bullshit, but I go with it anyway, I'm killing part of my humanity...

Now with all this said....if I was to NOT be apart of the system, I can almost promise everyone I know would point the finger and call me a useless bum...But that's bullshit because I'm just doign what I want to do....not what everyone else is doing.

American is like hell on earth I'm tellin ya. Not the immediate experience of america, but the over all long run of it experience. It's a game I never had part in deciding the rules....and because of that I don't want to play!

Start in community college dude. Then go a a CSU and then a UC. I'm going to Butte right now then I'll get my B.S. and Chico State, and then I'll move on to get my masters at Berkeley. And I'm working full time while I'm doing it so I have no debt, although I'll have to take out some loans when it comes time for Berkeley. It feels like alot of suffering now but it will be worth it in the end.

the only thing it will be worth is middle management at best, unless you kiss ass to the top. it sucks, but that's the nature of just about any business.
gotta put in some work, then start your own gig; that's the only way to avoid political bs in the workplace, run your own show.

I don't want to manage anyone benzyme. I'd like to become a PhD and work in the field of cognitive neuroscience. All the business and money making bullshit isn't for me.

Yo dude,

I'm hearing you. I'm few years ahead with the university stuff...I graduate from my BSc in Physical Geography and, funding pending, hope to be doing a Masters in October.

In some respects, I think you are in a very good position as a prelude to university. I really, really wish I had joined the real world for a year or two after school before university and got a job, I think it would have grounded me. University has been a trying time, and yes I will have some massive debts to pay off. But that doesn't really concern me...the benefits, for me, massively outweigh the costs. Here in the UK, the government start creaming off your finances to pay back all the loans when you start earning £15,000 a year.

I'm not so interested in the money making life path either...just enough to get by, put some food on the table, keep a roof over my head, have a bit of fun etc. Some family friends are incredibly well off...none of these people are the happiest people I know, that's for sure. But its a double edged sword. While having lots of money isn't a prerequisite for happiness, having no money at all is unlikely to make on happy either. In our society, money is a necessity.

I'm sure though, if you were to go to university, you could get a job part time, even a few hours here and there, just to pay for food. It all adds up and makes a difference.

So I would say...consider it. One of my friends on this board, has already done a degree, got a job, realised he hated it, and is now going back to uni for 4 more years! So with a will there is a way.

You need to leap on any opportunities you can. Right now is the most exciting time of my life. Following graduation, the number of paths and doors that open up into new and fascinating areas is something for me to be very happy about, I feel I have a lot to be lucky for. And these doors simply would not be open to me without a degree. My time at university has instilled in me a desire to engage in science, and to one day get published in a journal. This may be possibility this summer, fingers crossed. I'm also setting up a business with my mum, its still early days, but if this takes off it could really help support me. So there are options that can be cultivated.

I hope it works out for you man.

i hear that

unfortunately, even research is a business (I hate that part of it). without the funding, research doesn't happen.
and with a Ph.D, you'll have to do lots of grant requests and proposals. chances are, you'll be managing people anyway, or else you'll be too qualified for most positions.
it gets very political, so be ready for it.

If you don't want to go the school route, which is over rated in my opinion, you need to have your own business. You don't necessarily have to have employees, it can just be you. But it needs to be something you enjoy. Then, you can study whatever you'd like to study in your free time, you can certainly educate yourself as well as, if not better than, most schools if you dedicate yourself to learning. As long as you make enough money to support yourself and build up some savings, you are free. No boss, no BS, no work related politics, no corporate sexual harassment classes or degrading mandatory drug testing. Freedom. As close as one can get to actual freedom while still participating in this system.

Whatever you do, if you do not go to school, do not get into debt, that is the biggest trap there is. Live within your means, work hard and you will always have what you need (it may not be luxurious, but it will keep you comfortable).

yep, that's what's up.

This is a great topic for a thread. I'm in the same boat as you DreamWaves, only a bit older. I've been out of school for about 7 years now (high school), been working since I was 14 and have a decent paying job. I'm making more money than I ever have and I can make rent, pay my bills, and still have some fun money. The job isn't what I want to be doing for the rest of my life though, and I really think that's the key; figuring out what it is that you really want to do.

I know a few buddies who got their Bachelor's and can't find decent work and now they're stuck paying off their loans. One of them is going back to school for a law degree. So if you do decide to go to school it seems to me you need to choose a degree that you can put to use right out of college; like law, medicine, etc. I wouldn't mind going to college either but I'm still not sure what I really want to and don't want the debt piling up while I'm waiting to figure it out.

88 hit the nail on the head, DEBT IS KING, whether you go the college route or the entrepreneur route. I would be interested to hear all members opinions on this subject and what their financial story is because I know there are some very intelligent members in the community.

This is a real tough one bro. There is no easy choice. You outlined things great. All i can say is i chose no education and i kind of regret it now. You need to go to college to do the plant things and other things you want.

Hope you find clarity soon.

-spiceworm