We Can't All Be Doctors and Lawyers and Such

There was a time when high school taught us practical skills. There was home economics where they taught you to cook and sew. There was metal shop and wood shop in which you learned not only to build something with your own two hands, but how to visualize, plan and read a pattern. You learned how to apply those math classes you were required to take. Supposedly due to budget cuts these classes are no longer offered. (They don't teach you how to drive a car anymore either.)

These hands-on classes were replaced with computer classes and preparation for college. They expect young people to know "what they want to be when they grow up". This is a cute question to ask a child when they're young enough to play dress-up, but not a 15 year old adolescent. By the time they graduate, they are expected to have a life plan all laid out and ready to follow. If their parents can afford a college education, they're very fortunate; otherwise they're expected to spend the equivalent of buying a house to finance their college degree. I don't know who thought up these standards, but very few young adults know what they want to do with their future let alone teenagers.

I started working when I was 15 years old. All I needed was a work permit which indicated that my parents approved of me working and that my employer was aware of my age. I worked every summer during high school; so did my brothers. By the time my children were in high school, work was getting scarce. My daughter was lucky enough to get work serving coffee, but my boys couldn't find the type of work they wanted (garage mechanic or welding) because they weren't 18. My oldest son was able to find a Mexican restaurant that willingly trained him to cook. This was actually the end of an era; it's very difficult for a high school student to find work anymore. Those jobs are taken by college students or graduates who either can't find work in their field or don't like the career choice they were forced to make in high school.

About the time I graduated from high school there was a song that was really popular in country music. Some of the lyrics read, "Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be cowboys. Don't let 'em pick guitars or drive them old trucks. Let 'em be doctors and lawyers and such." Now I really liked this song, but I recently realized that the expectation or skewed view in America is that we should all be doctors and lawyers and such. We all should get a college degree whether we can afford it or not. We should all aspire to making as much money as we possibly can and this will bring us happiness. The way to achieve this goal is to get a college degree - the higher the better. Some would go so far as to call it "The American Dream".

There are several problems with this ideology. One as stated earlier is the cost. It is so prohibitive to most people and yet we keep shoving our young people over this cliff. Also, expecting our teenagers to know what they want to do with the rest of their lives to make the expense of that college education feasible is ridiculous. I've had at least 12 different jobs in my lifetime and I still don't have a "career title" - and I actually have an AA degree.

Then there's the guilt. Why do we make people feel guilty for not having a college diploma? Or if they get that diploma, why do judge them as a failure if they end up working in another field? What gives us the right to judge at all? I have met so many people that changed their mind about their career choice once they started their college education. Some changed their major (several times even) while others stuck it out and then sought other employment when they realized they weren't suited to the work.

Last of all, we can't all be doctors and lawyers and such. When I worked in the hospital I would often comment, "Sure we need the nurses, doctors, various techs that all required a so called higher education; but how would the hospital function without the housekeepers, cafeteria workers and maintenance crew?" These people were vital to the operation. They worked the hardest and received the lowest pay.

Today I read an article that some of those high-tech computer jobs that were the so-called "wave of the future" are no longer available. In fact I recently heard a report that there are plenty of "blue collar" jobs available, but there are not enough trained people to fulfill these positions. People that would have been taught these skills in high school at one time or maybe received on-the-job training.

So I honor all those hard working people out there, whether you have a college degree or not. I'm proud of my husband who worked as an Industrial Electrician, my daughter the Coffee Barrista and my son who welds on four-wheel-drive vehicles. Hold your heads up and take pride in your work. And while you're at it, spit in the eye anyone who judges you as unsuccessful.

(Disclaimer: I have nothing against doctors and lawyers.)