Views expressed in opinion columns are the author’s own.
It might seem hypocritical for a University of Maryland student like me to write an essay warning of the perils of a society that over-emphasizes the significance of a college education. Regardless, this is an important issue the “educated” community largely ignores. Young Americans are not encouraged to consider a variety of life paths outside of university, such as the military, the trades or the arts. As a result, the American youth are robbed of their self-determination, as they are instead funneled into academia before they can realize the other options available to them.
Middle-class America has driven its youth away from blue-collar work and toward intellectual industries such as business, medicine and law. This trend largely began with the return of the veterans of World War II, who, under the GI Bill, received free college tuition and living expenses for veterans pursuing an education. Nearly ten million veterans benefited from this bill. These brave veterans rightfully exploited a great financial benefit the government afforded them. This trend continued with a steady rise in college attendance from then to today. College today, however, entails enormous expenses as four years of undergraduate studies can amount to upwards of $100,000.
A trade apprenticeship offers a good alternative to college, as the average apprentice makes $30,000 dollars a year and can expect to earn $50,000 annually after he becomes an expert in his field. The tradesman can thus expect to be ahead of unemployed college graduates by at least $120,000 after four years, while also gaining a significant edge in workplace experience. While graduating college students will still be paying off their student loans, the tradesman can start their life with a significant sum in their bank account.
More important than economics, however, is the hindering of American youth from scanning the scope of life’s opportunities and proceeding according to their inclination. American high schools shuttle and prod students like sheep, coercing them to attend the best university possible, regardless of their hopes and dreams. Instead of providing life guidance counselors, our high schools remain littered with college guidance counselors. America sees manual jobs as inferior, something that only the lower class should partake in, instead of both intellectually and physically stimulating professions.
Quite simply, individuals do not need colleges as much as society leads them to believe. Sure, a college education is the correct path for many, but for others, an apprenticeship, life experience or trade school can be more beneficial. As Frank Zappa famously said, “If you want to get laid, go to college. If you want an education, go to the library.” If an individual loves to cook, he can apprentice in a restaurant, gain valuable work experience and earn a decent salary while pursuing his passion. If one is a budding writer, one should explore the world, read voraciously, meet new people and write about them. If someone aspires to be a pilot, she should go to aviation school and learn how to soar in the skies. Human beings only have one life to live and should not allow society to churn us out as it desires. Rather, each individual should exploit this life to the fullest and decide where their correct path lies, whether in a library, classroom or cockpit.
Joseph Kuttler is a freshman English major. He can be reached at joekutt3@gmail.com.
