Excellent points by you and Daizee as well. :thumbup:
This country's priorities, education systems, job markets and frankly the whole economy are completely upside down these days, and it didn't happen overnight. Everyone wants to be a CEO or a movie star - but I got news for ya kids, there are just not very many of those jobs to go around.
There are an awful lot of people of all ages with degrees in business/management and the various liberal arts who are stuck in dead-end McJobs right now, and likely will be until they learn to actually DO or MAKE something that has intrinsic value. Meanwhile most will be paying off those fancy pieces of paper for many years to come.
I don't know any machinists, welders, plumbers, riggers, mechanics etc etc who aren't busy working in their chosen field.
That concludes Dr. JT's lecture on socio-economics for today. Is it bourbon-thirty yet?
A very fine lecture from the Professor!
I knew a gentleman once who decided to go to Votech school using the GI Bill after he retired from the Army. He got certificates in both nursing and plumbing. He figured he'd always have a job if he wanted to suplement his military retirement. He wound up getting hired on as an Army civilian employee to teach tactical communications, but was prepared if that didn't work out.
Other data points:
My daughter graduated from Texas A&M (magna cum laude) with a degree in Communications, minor in Sociogy. I managed to foot the bill along with her part time jobs, and she graduated with no debt. She wanted to work for a non-profit doing mision-type work, but nothing panned out. She wound up going to work for a coffee importer based here in Texas since she had worked for 3 years as a barrista in college. The degree showed them that she had time management skills, etc, etc, but her job really doesn't depend on her degree. After a year, they told her that her performance was well above entry level and she got a 25% salary raise and 5% bonus check. In her case, the degree plus work experience opened the door for her.
My son is now in a 2-year program at a community college (so not huge tuition bills) studying Music Business, Performance and Technology. They get some core courses from all three areas, but he's focusing on the technology track. He's had two semesters of Audio Engineering and knows the basics of setting up a recording studio (mic placement, cabling, etc), mixing audio tracks, recording and editing MIDI, and other cool things. The degree will be an Associate in Applied Science. The key is the "applied " part...he'll actually be able to "do" something as opposed to "think" about something.
Not that "thinking" is a bad thing... I got my degree in Electrical Engineering back in 1984 (shortly after the dinosaurs all died...) but also committed to going into the Army through ROTC (I believe beer was involved). I did telecommunications stuff (tactical and strategic) (I kill with my mind, not with my hands...), and my degree served me well. But in addition to all the theoretical knowledge, I learned to "do" stuff - design, install, operate, maintain, troubleshoot - with actual magical talking electrical boxes...
I didn't really mean this to turn into another hour of lecture...but oh, well...it builds character.
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focus on your studies!
