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HIGH SCHOOL BURNOUT?
If you are, or know of a high school senior please read on. The year-end holiday is about over. Many seniors complain of burnout. You should not be one of them. If you think high school is too tough you are not ready for college.
The fact is that all individuals do not need to go to a four-year university, such as CMU. Many job openings are for people with skill sets in specialties in fields such as robot repair, medical assistance, and logistics, for which two years of community college or trade school is sufficient.
Only about a quarter of high school graduates are really ready for college; the others require remedial courses in math, science, and language skills. Rather than jump into an advanced curriculum, many are choosing to take a year or two to take night classes, work to save enough money to pay for school, going into the military (where some programs offer scholarships), or community service to hone their ability to work with others.
If you are thinking about a particular field, say education, it would be very good to work as a teaching assistant to see if you really like it. Too frequently, after four years invested in a degree there may be few openings, or one finds that the actual job isn’t what you thought it would be like.
Find out where the jobs will be, and prepare yourself to be valuable to your employer. Learn how the computer is used in that area: spreadsheets and interactive databases are almost universal, as is on-line search.
Be ready. Be excited. There are opportunities out there, so take advantage of them.
The fact is that all individuals do not need to go to a four-year university, such as CMU. Many job openings are for people with skill sets in specialties in fields such as robot repair, medical assistance, and logistics, for which two years of community college or trade school is sufficient.
Only about a quarter of high school graduates are really ready for college; the others require remedial courses in math, science, and language skills. Rather than jump into an advanced curriculum, many are choosing to take a year or two to take night classes, work to save enough money to pay for school, going into the military (where some programs offer scholarships), or community service to hone their ability to work with others.
If you are thinking about a particular field, say education, it would be very good to work as a teaching assistant to see if you really like it. Too frequently, after four years invested in a degree there may be few openings, or one finds that the actual job isn’t what you thought it would be like.
Find out where the jobs will be, and prepare yourself to be valuable to your employer. Learn how the computer is used in that area: spreadsheets and interactive databases are almost universal, as is on-line search.
Be ready. Be excited. There are opportunities out there, so take advantage of them.
posted by Ed Fisher at
4:56 PM
1 Comments:
I agree with you Ed. If everyone sat at desks pushing paper or designing buildings, who will repair our trains, planes and automobiles?
Those (and many other trades) are respectable professions which too often are looked down on by society as a whole, at least until they need something fixed.
I was probably one of the few that was not enthusiastic about the additional graduation requirements tacked onto Michigan students degrees. I'm not afraid of more requirements but was dismayed that they were stacked towards college and totally ignored any trades. Almost 100% of those who graduate from High School will own a home or drive a car.
I would strongly recommend that students who can fit additional classes in, to take 1 or 2 trades classes. Maybe a residiential construction class or auto shop. Wouldn't it be nice to know how your home was constructed when you need to have work performed? At least you'll fair better when you have unscrupulous people working on your car or fixing a roof.
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