Written by Ricardo Villafan, Staff Writer
The question of what an 18-year-old should do after they graduate high school is a scary one. For some, the answer is to go to college for four years, get a job directly after they get their degree, and live a happy, merry life.
Unfortunately, life doesn’t go that way most of the time, and sometimes college isn’t an option. Either it’s too expensive, or it doesn’t help a student get a good paying job in the mysterious adult world. In a world where it is drilled into your head that college is the only way to be successful, there are many more options, like learning a trade.
The trades include engineering, carpentry, plumbing, and many more things. Many people apprentice or master in them, and anyone can start at a very early age. For example, high schoolers are at the perfect age to start an apprenticeship.
A typical college experience is sticking to a class schedule and getting good grades, which isn’t much different from every other grade before college. It’s a longer segue into real adult life, which may make people a lot more comfortable once they are spewed out into the real world.
College can also help teenagers mature into the new generation of adults to change the world for the better. In regards to that statement, it introduces students to different kinds of people of different cultures and differing opinions. Learning to interact with new people is a great step to making the world more understanding and good.
The trades can have similar effects. Unlike college though, learning a trade can get a student into the work eld a lot faster, and it gives a person work experience quite quickly. Whenever you go to a job site, you learn right there and from an experienced worker. An apprentice essentially gets paid to learn for their future job.
When a person is under an apprenticeship they can get certain certifications to help them get a job for a bigger company a lot faster. It helps a person gain more connections to expand their opportunities.
Depending on the trade, most job sites go into people’s homes for their work. Similarly to college, it gives a person a chance to meet new types of people and to experience different lifestyles. It may not seem all that important, but having knowledge like that is extremely valuable when you’re still getting used to the real world.
Now for what most people are truly interested in: the cost of education and potential earnings that come with a job.
The price for an average four-year college — tuition, room and board — is $36,000 a year. In total, that’s about $144,000. On top of that there are also textbooks, transportation, and personal expenses. As most people know, college is very expensive. Of course there is the ever so gracious scholarships and full rides. But not all students are able to qualify for those types of awards. So college becomes even more of a fantasy.
Jobs after college vary in their pay. Some can pay $100,000 a year or as low as $40,000 a year. Most college students unfortunately aren’t able to go into the eld they major in, either because there is no need for the specific job they studied for or other reasons.
To go to trade school, the average price tag is about $33,000 for total tuition, which is much easier on a student’s wallet. That is no question.
As for the pay, an apprentice can start at around $40,000 or $50,000 a year. After about four years, their wages may rise to about $100,000 or more a year. With that kind of pay, anyone can live a happy life.
In the end, it’s a personal choice to make. It’s no one else’s, so everyone just has to have some faith in what they choose to do and what route they decide to take. Either way, everyone should just be happy with what they do with their life. That’s what’s truly important.