Profoundly Disconnected - Mike Rowe

[Portsider86]

I wish I had known and had access to this information and mindset in high school. The UC system was shoved down my throat, I was made to believe that if I didn't get in then I would not be successful. I did not take one single elective of my own choosing in high school because I had to meet the minimum requirements for the state universities. My high school at the time had wood shop, auto, and one of the largest ag departments in the area. Now I hear auto & ag are both gone. Now that I wasted a few years in university and racked up a huge student loan I'm finding my way in the trades. I was such a pyro as a kid, if only someone had showed me how to weld back then.

[dirtrulz]

If I had it all to do over again I would not go to college, I would go to a trade school. I wasted a ton of money in college on crap that means nothing. I was the first to go to college in my family for three generations and it was kind of expected. I would be way ahead money wise to have worked for three years and not spend the thousands on college. When I went I think it was around 20,000 a year without books, now the same school is way over 30,000, might be over 40 by now. You need a dang good job to be able to pay back 160,000 with interest. The blue collar trades will always have jobs available are the pay is only getting better. The large percentage of people graduating form college these days can hack a computer and build a cell phone but can hardly wipe their own ass and will always need someone to do the real work.

I graduated with a buddy who spent 5 years getting his electrical engineer degree. He is now making good money but it took him almost ten years to get there. There are more engineers than jobs out there. Most will never find a job in their field. A good mechanic can make 6 figures after a few years, after two years or less in a trade school.

It is really sad to see the direction this country is going. Each generation is getting more pussified.

[Wulf202]

The world needs ditch diggers too.

[Jamnanc]

To derail the train of thought, this is my problem with making school easier and easier so the less academically proficient can succeed. The world does indeed require ditch diggers, plumbers, sparkies, iron heads, block heads, concrete guys, janitors and so on. School used to be a place where people decided whether they would use their hands or their pencils. No child left behind is a waste of money.

[MAP]

The world needs ditch diggers too.

Preferably using heavy equipment, not a shovel.

Mike

[davsel]

Join the military - learn a trade - make money all the while.

Then, after 20 years, you get a pension (unheard of outside govt these days) and all the free money you will ever need to complete college if you so choose.

Worked for me.

[Jeffrey Lebowski]

The world needs ditch diggers too.

I've often thought of becoming a golf club.

[BigDee]

If you're not happy with your current job you should become a welder or a rig hand. Preferably both. You'll be guaranteed to make boat loads of money and get all the ladies you could dream of. College is for bums.

LMAO.

[Troublco]

Join the military - learn a trade - make money all the while.

Then, after 20 years, you get a pension (unheard of outside govt these days) and all the free money you will ever need to complete college if you so choose.

Worked for me.

I did 24 years, and I continue to reap the rewards of that investment. No matter what I gave, what I have received in return outweighs it.

I am constantly amazed at the jobs I see available that sit empty for lack of someone with knowledge and experience; but they are what is considered "trades" jobs. Kids, and a lot of people today, all seem to think they're going to work IT. That's great, but like any other field, there are a finite number of positions needing filled and if there are three times more people than jobs, not only are there going to be folks without jobs but many of those that have them will make less. Which is why so many people who are skilled with their hands (another description I've heard) can make so much money doing what so many people seem to regard as "beneath" them. I don't mean this to sound wrong, but not everyone is cut out to be a programmer, or IT, or an electrical engineer...just like not everyone is cut out to be a mechanic, or an electrician, or a finish carpenter, or a mason. But lots of folks don't want to believe that their little Johnny ain't gonna be an IT whiz. It takes a wide variety of skills to make the world go 'round, and I think the trade/training problem is another symptom of the greater ills our country has. Not many seem to take pride in honest, hard work and what it produces anymore.

[Troublco]

To derail the train of thought, this is my problem with making school easier and easier so the less academically proficient can succeed. The world does indeed require ditch diggers, plumbers, sparkies, iron heads, block heads, concrete guys, janitors and so on. School used to be a place where people decided whether they would use their hands or their pencils. No child left behind is a waste of money.

+1. A waste of money, and a waster of children and the adults they become.