Often, my wife and I go back and forth on something. She thinks the natural progression after high school is college. I don’t think it is the natural progression, anymore. This is healthy dialogue…we both want what is best for our boys.
Listen, I get why she wants them to go to college. I have a friend that is extremely smart and would be great in just about any company. He has experience as a controller, in accounting, in currency trading, and many other things. He can’t get people to give him an interview because he doesn’t have a bachelor’s degree.
I understand all of this. Maybe, you need to understand that I think education (especially public education) is a bare minimum. I always ask my boys, “Can you think well?”
Education teaches you facts, or theories. Most of the theories are garbage. (Yes, I’m talking to the theory of evolution…it’s not a fact people. It’s a very thinly thought out theory without any evidence.) Much of what you learn in business school is junk, too.
Albert Einstein said, “Education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think.” I want my boys to be good thinkers with creative minds. If you can creatively think well, you will never lack for a job or money.
My problem with automatically going to college is that I have higher aspirations for my kids than being worker bees. You know going to the hive (office), working in a cubicle and making someone else rich. Listen, I’ve done it. For way too long. It’s painful.
What makes a successful businessman? Seeing what problems are and being able to find a solution that people can/will use. If you can find a creative, smart way to provide a solution, you have an idea for a business or an application.
Anyway, it’s not that I don’t think college/university has its place. It does. I’m just not sure it is right after high school.
What is the age range at which we have the most energy, strength and vitality? 18-25.
What is an age range at which you have the least to lose? 18-25. What I mean here is what would happen if you started 10 businesses and failed at all 10 (between the ages of 18 and 25)? What would you lose? Probably not that much.
What happens if you start 10 businesses and fail at all 10 between the ages of 35 and 42? Most people have a spouse, kids, a house, a couple cars…so they have a lot more to lose.
But what would you learn by starting 10 businesses and failing? You’d learn a lot! Much more than what you would learn at 4 years of college.
When I think back over my life and I consider the age at which I had no clue what I wanted to do with my life, it is 18-22. I didn’t really understand the world, yet. I didn’t understand myself, yet. And the world was asking me to make decisions of what I wanted to do for the rest of my life? Crazy.
Maybe, that is why people change careers and industries so much. Maybe, that is why people find themselves feeling trapped or depressed.
I understand that some people DO know what they want to do with the rest of their life at the age of 18. For the rest of us, maybe, college isn’t the thing we should be doing right out of high school.
Did you catch that? I said, “…right out of high school.” College has its place…I’m just not sure it is right out of high school.
Now, I haven’t even mentioned the cost of college or the debt which we rack up to go to college. I’ll just say that I’m not sure I want my kids saddled with hundreds of thousands of dollars, to go to college (and party), to get a degree that doesn’t qualify them for any job.
So, what are some alternatives?
First. Maybe, college is the right choice if you are getting a full ride scholarship for sports or academics. You can’t pass up a free degree, can you?
Second. Is there a happy medium? Go to college, but go to one that is cheaper…without sacrificing quality. Simon Black has this to say about education and some alternative choices for school: here and here.
Basically, there is highly respected colleges throughout the world that are much cheaper than college/university in the U.S.
There are so many benefits to going to college overseas! You can learn a second language. You meet and create contacts from all over the world…kind of a big deal these days. You can see and learn how people from other countries think. Your parents get to visit you in another country (that’s a benefit to me not the kids).
Third might be to travel around the world for a period of time. This seems expensive, but can be done for less than you think. The benefits are amazing again. You are creating contacts all over the world. Learning many different languages and cultures. Stretching yourself…moving outside of your comfort zone. You will learn who you are.
Fourth is to bring them along into the family business. I’m a huge advocate for creating a family business (or businesses). Taking it a step further, I am very interested in a Family Office…which includes family businesses, creating a family culture, and so much more.
I’m in process of building a book of rental houses that I can bring my boys in on. I’m also working on many different business ventures, currently. I’m hoping some of these will stick and be something I can make into a family business.
With this, I would want the boys to take classes at college (or learn some other way) to gain skills or knowledge needed for the family business/office.
Fifth. Some people are much more wired for a trade. This is not a bad thing at all. One of my friends from school became an electrician. He did go to college for this, but he didn’t have to. I think the art of mentoring or apprenticeship has been lost, but it is needed badly.
I would love to see apprenticeship in business. I think that would be so much more valuable than an MBA.
Theoretically, what do you think an apprenticeship with Warren Buffet would be worth? More than an MBA? Any MBA? Yeah, I think so too.
Sixth. What about the boys trying their hand at starting a business. Like I said earlier, start a business until one sticks. Maybe, you need to take some college class to learn a specific skill…or maybe you can learn it from a friend or mentor.
Seventh. In the age of internet, apps and technology, a person can make a good living from being a good programmer. You don’t need college degree to be a programmer. Anyone can learn to program at home.
Eighth. Suck it up…go to college and be a good worker bee.
I know I’m speaking heresy. I know most people don’t want to hear what I am saying in this article…but that’s ok. This is for my boys. If it doesn’t work for you, that’s ok. I want my boys to think differently than other people. If you want to be normal, think normal.
If you want to be extraordinary, you have to think differently. You have to do things differently.
Boys, don’t be like everyone else. If you are doing what everyone else is doing, it should be a red flag. Be different. Be exceptional. Be you!
pTm 