A bit about myself
Why do people go to college? Is it to get their dream job, or make a lot of money, or is it just because it’s what expected of them? If any of that is true than why doesn’t everybody go? I assume people go to college because it’s the best way to excel in today’s job market and that’s want every wants. Well the truth of the matter is that wanting to go to college is not enough to get you there, youhave to work hard, but the sad fact is that even that is not always enough. College is expensive. Public Colleges charge a rough average of $13,000 a year, and some private colleges charge upwards of $30,000 a year for tuition. Many times students need to take out bank loans just to pay for tuition, and paying that loan back is not always as easy as making the monthly payment. This is something that I hope to avoid if at all possible.
To owe a bank money is to own a bank a portion of your soul. The contract you sign on your loan agreement declares how much you own the bank, how much interest they’re going to charge, and how long you have to pay it back. In that respect the bank owns you and if you default on that contract the entry level positions your degree has earned you wouldn’t do you much good if you’re broke and bankrupt. I don’t intend to ever get loan to pay for an education, even if it means putting off going to college for a few years to build up some income. To stand on my own feet without any assistance from anybody is my ultimate goal, but that entails going to college, which while I’m not looking forward to it, is a necessary evil in today’s society.
I say evil because let’s face it, from the first day one of kindergarten, high school graduation is Said to be the bare minimum that is required to do anything of value, but 13 years later, most people are tired of learning and ready to put what they’ve learned into practice to make their own money. College just seems like a hassle considering you did just spend over a decade in school and what could four more years do for you? Well a lot actually. A college degree is the first thing employers look for when reviewing a candidate’s application. Without a degree you might as well be turning in a blank piece of paper because it will have the same appearance: naked.
That 13 years of school I mentioned really doesn’t count for much in todays unless if it was a set up for the last four. Without the last four everything else you’ve done amounts to little unless you plan on a career in the military and even then, only as an enlisted man. The sad fact is that college today is what high school 50 years ago was: essential to achieving anything substantial with your life. Without assistance, the best that most people with only a high school diploma (or god forbid less than) is mediocrity, which in today’s economy is the bare minimum. That is my hope, my goal, and my reason for wanting to go to college: to be able to earn a respectable living without needing assistance from anyone.
Unfortunately I haven’t gotten off to a great start. As of the start of 2012 I haven’t done the greatest in school, I haven’t had any type of employment (not for lack of trying mind you), and circumstances have conspired to prevent me from getting my driver’s license. My life has become stagnate, uneventful, and frankly boring. My extra-curricular activities are lacking, and my community service is non-existent. I don’t know money to my name, and neither do my parents so paying for college will be difficult, so difficult that the only viable option to pay for college without taking out a loan is the military, more specifically the Navy Construction Battalion. In summery I can say that the first 18 years of my life haven’t been very beneficial in a traditional sense, but I have gained two things from them: a cynicism that drives most people past annoyance to the point of hatred, and a determination to do something meaningful with my life.
In this grand scheme of mine (if not thought but half-way through) I figure I start in the Navy Construction Battalion for a vocational education. I chose this as my starting point because all I know how do with any skill is work outside. The Navy offers opportunities that are severely lacking in the private sector, that something being a way to get your foot in the door of a reputable organization without prior experience. As well as that and a paycheck, the Navy also has a tuition assistance program which helps active duty enlisted men and women pay for college. From their I’m thinking of getting a degree in either construction management or civil engineering to go along with what I’ve decided to do in the Navy.