Post high school

[gearheadE30]

As a bunch of others have said, go to college. It may not be fun or as badass as traveling or anything, but the way the economy is right now, the best way to get a good job, and have some choice in what you are doing in the field, is to go to school. 4 year degrees are great, and going to a CC is still not bad.

TwoJs, I know a few people who have done okay without going to school, and generally they are the kind of people that can just intuitively figure things out. They are naturally smart, if you want to put it that way, and are very logical people. The majority of the people I know who didn't go to college are working dead end jobs and all that stuff, and are having a rough go of it.

Taking a break from school, while sounding attractive, isn't a good plan. Even if you are burned out from high school, at least all of that information is still fresh in your memory. Some of it depends on what you want to do, but if you want to do something rigorous, like math, physics, engineering, medicine, law, etc, it pays off to start right away. It's also very easy to lose the motivation and actually follow through with going back to school.

I'm currently a 4th semester Mechanical Engineering student at Purdue, so I know how much of a pain the ass it can be. But in the end, it will get me where I want to go. I worked (on E30's) as a mechanic for 3 years in high school and am currently employed as a CNC machinist. This summer I will be working for Chrysler, and they basically said that due to how hard I've worked I can do whatever I want. Because of school, I've got internship offers with GM performance, BMW, Tesla, Trek bicycles, Honda Factory Performance... it pays off to go to school and try hard even if it doesn't always seem like it. It's true that I've not been able to pursue some of my other hobbies and passions because of school, but hey, 4 years is a small price to pay to have a good, solid career in my opinion.

[Joe G]

I went to a fairly difficult/well regarded liberal arts college right out of high school. I spent 2 years as a communucation/education double major with a history minor taking 16creds for 4 semesters. After my soph year I decided i wanted a more post-ed oriented curriculum and took a year off school to work and think of what I really wanted to do. Now I'm back in school(transferred) in a finance program.

I definitely advise you go right to school and If you don't like it then take some time after a semester or so to weigh your options and figure
Out what you like. I know if I took time off right after HS I would have had no motivation to go to college. No matter where you go chances are that your freshman year will be primarily gen Ed courses to get you accustomed to the college work load and life style before you begin your major focused education. Just take it easy and try to take classes that are of some interest to you and give them your all. If you slack off and do poorly you may get discouraged and 'take time off' and not go back.

[Sailor37]

Consider the military....really.

Join the Navy--become a nuke, turbine operator, electrician, or anything that you think you would like to do and has a real world application.

Gets you away from home for a while, out of your comfort zone, and makes you grow up pretty damn fast.

Get out and use your GI Bill for school--by then you have a much more better idea of what you want to study, and will do better than right out of high school.

Plus, you get the satisfaction of being part of the 1% who have done their duty.

Yea, going to boot camp, standing watch at odd hours of the day, having to iron your uniform, etc...all that sucks, but I would do it all over again.

^^Also, you won't spend two years wasting time and money at school trying to figure out what to study.

[mikeedler]

I did the Army thing, I had no desire to keep going to school -- should have stayed with the school thing though.

If you can afford it, stay in school! If you have some school behind you, you can get into the military as an officer and earn some real money if you wanna go that route.

[jrobie79]

you know what you do if you get a women's studies degree right?

teach women's studies....

but somehow people with those degrees believe their academic pedigree speaks for itself, even though they have ZERO real world experience and to scrutinize them just means you aren't on their intellectual level

[ttrousdell]

Go to a Maritime school like I did, get an engineering degree and coast guard license. The schools are in maine, mass, NY, texas, michigan and california and pretty affordable. The schools are regimented so you will have to put up with uniforms and fake army bull. I'm 22 and just graduated and i have to say im loving what i do. I had several job opertunities out of school all paying way more then all the jobs that my freinds got coming out of school assuming they received jobs at all. Some have degrees and bartend because there is nothing out there. Anyway I chose to get experience and work with tugboats first. I have a week on week off schedule so thats pretty sweet. On the tug i am the engineer responsible for all machinery. Once i get experience im going to sign up with a union and hopefully get on a ship. These ships travel worldwide. Some of my classmates are in egypt, singapore, etc right now. The sky is the limit and the pay is exceptional. The downside is you have to get used to being away 2-4 months at a time but usually you have and equal amount of time off. Years from now if i choose that i cant be away that long i can still do design work becase i still have a bachelors in engineering or work powerplants. Prob the latter because i hate desk jobs.

Here are a few photos of what I do now...

My tug



We do a lot of assist work.



My engines..645 electromotive diesels. V16 same engines in locomotives. General motors made a shit ton of these. The boat has a little over 3000 horse.





Other tug assisting us and docking a ship that in the furture will be something ill work on



In the end its all about finding something that you love to do. Trust me there is nothing worse then waking up in the morning and going to a job that you absolutely hate.

[freeride53]

I'm a freshman in college.
College is nice. As much as you might hate going to class, or not look forward to it, it's good for you and makes you a better person. That's what I keep telling myself every morning when I wake up at 4:45 am

[miichaelsmith]

I'm a freshman in college.
College is nice. As much as you might hate going to class, or not look forward to it, it's good for you and makes you a better person. That's what I keep telling myself every morning when I wake up at 4:45 am

Whyy do early?!

[Mlarsen]

I hate the "economy is bad" reasoning for going to college. If anything going to college is going to put your more in debt and fuck you over even more. I recommend college ONLY if you know exactly what you want to do with your life. People go to college and fuck off for 4 years and accomplish nothing. Then when you graduate you end up working at Starbucks taking my coffee order.

[hfabricius]

Go to a Maritime school like I did, get an engineering degree and coast guard license. The schools are in maine, mass, NY, texas, michigan and california and pretty affordable. The schools are regimented so you will have to put up with uniforms and fake army bull. I'm 22 and just graduated and i have to say im loving what i do. I had several job opertunities out of school all paying way more then all the jobs that my freinds got coming out of school assuming they received jobs at all. Some have degrees and bartend because there is nothing out there. Anyway I chose to get experience and work with tugboats first. I have a week on week off schedule so thats pretty sweet. On the tug i am the engineer responsible for all machinery. Once i get experience im going to sign up with a union and hopefully get on a ship. These ships travel worldwide. Some of my classmates are in egypt, singapore, etc right now. The sky is the limit and the pay is exceptional. The downside is you have to get used to being away 2-4 months at a time but usually you have and equal amount of time off. Years from now if i choose that i cant be away that long i can still do design work becase i still have a bachelors in engineering or work powerplants. Prob the latter because i hate desk jobs.

My dad wanted me to go to Maine Maritime Academy for a while but I told him I was going to do Mech. Engineering and he's more than fine with it.

Whyy do early?!

I bet he rows Crew. My sister does the same thing and I have been looking in to it too.

I am in my second semester now and I don't have any problems. I chose a smaller school for my first few years because they do a program where I can transfer to a larger University when I get ready to do my other classes. I feel like I am learning to manage my money better since I have a 60 mile round trip commute to my school and I spend A LOT on gas. If you don't know, go in undecided and talk to some friends about what they are doing, I have a couple friends doing that. I wouldn't skip a year though, I feel like it would be easy to lose track of what you are trying to do.

[freeride53]

I bet he rows Crew. My sister does the same thing and I have been looking in to it too.

Haha yes I do! In fact, tomorrow's wake up is at 3:00 am to catch the bus to a regatta.
I definitely recommend it. What team would you row for?
It's amazing how it gives my life so much structure.

[HarryPotter]

I now know why this forum has been going down the tubes.

[hfabricius]

Haha yes I do! In fact, tomorrow's wake up is at 3:00 am to catch the bus to a regatta.
I definitely recommend it. What team would you row for?
It's amazing how it gives my life so much structure.

I would be rowing for North Georgia College and State University club team. My sister is the captain for Georgia State University Crew and cox for I think the mens 4. Last year she got to go to Head of the Charles event up in Boston.

[redsubdivisions]

I am going to go out on a limb and tell you college isn't always the best route for everyone. Before everyone starts giving me shit, let me emphasize a bit.

There are lists of "the top 10 party schools" or something similar to this and most people go to those for this very reason. How can anyone take a college/university seriously if they are basically paying $30K+ for 4 years of partying? Not to mention every average college student barely knows their head from their ass because of the continual use of drugs and getting smashed every night.

I know plenty of people who have 4 year degrees in many fields and have jack shit to show for it. So not only are they working in bullshit jobs, but they also have a nice amount of debt on their back. I personally don't like owing money in the long run, but to each their own.

The bullshit they feed you in school to tell you to go to college is turning into a propaganda in my opinion. "You'll make 1 million more over your lifetime than someone who hasn't gone to school" is one of the many quotes I have heard. What they didn't tell you is that you're paying student loans for the rest of your life. You feed the system, they will feed you the bullshit.

I was raised in a family under the assumption that hard work is key to success. Every one forgets about the "underdog" and "blue collar" jobs and automatically tries to shoot for the big bucks by being some business manager or vice CEO of a major company right out of college. Without these guys, none of us would have the resources that we have now.

OP, I went into the Army RIGHT after high school (literally 2 months after my graduation). In my brain, it seemed what was good for me at the time because I knew I had a solid future. I figured, "Hey, why not. I did JROTC for 4 years and I saw myself as a leader and could potentially be one". I went in as a Private First Class off the bat (because of JROTC) and there were people in there that did 4 years in college and all they had to show for it was one rank above me and NO common sense.

I work for Porsche and all I have is a high school diploma because I busted ass and showed to my superiors that I wasn't your average shmuck. Unfortunately, every employer wants a piece of paper that says you sat in classes for 4 years to identify you as "prospectable".

In the end, follow what YOU think is right. You're still young. You will change your mind from age 18 all the way up to 24, at least. This is a time where you will be forming into an adult (being 18 does not cut it as an adult, I am sure most people would agree).

[The Volta]

I am going to go out on a limb and tell you college isn't always the best route for everyone. Before everyone starts giving me shit, let me emphasize a bit.

There are lists of "the top 10 party schools" or something similar to this and most people go to those for this very reason. How can anyone take a college/university seriously if they are basically paying $30K+ for 4 years of partying? Not to mention every average college student barely knows their head from their ass because of the continual use of drugs and getting smashed every night.

I know plenty of people who have 4 year degrees in many fields and have jack shit to show for it. So not only are they working in bullshit jobs, but they also have a nice amount of debt on their back. I personally don't like owing money in the long run, but to each their own.

The bullshit they feed you in school to tell you to go to college is turning into a propaganda in my opinion. "You'll make 1 million more over your lifetime than someone who hasn't gone to school" is one of the many quotes I have heard. What they didn't tell you is that you're paying student loans for the rest of your life. You feed the system, they will feed you the bullshit.

I was raised in a family under the assumption that hard work is key to success. Every one forgets about the "underdog" and "blue collar" jobs and automatically tries to shoot for the big bucks by being some business manager or vice CEO of a major company right out of college. Without these guys, none of us would have the resources that we have now.

OP, I went into the Army RIGHT after high school (literally 2 months after my graduation). In my brain, it seemed what was good for me at the time because I knew I had a solid future. I figured, "Hey, why not. I did JROTC for 4 years and I saw myself as a leader and could potentially be one". I went in as a Private First Class off the bat (because of JROTC) and there were people in there that did 4 years in college and all they had to show for it was one rank above me and NO common sense.

I work for Porsche and all I have is a high school diploma because I busted ass and showed to my superiors that I wasn't your average shmuck. Unfortunately, every employer wants a piece of paper that says you sat in classes for 4 years to identify you as "prospectable".

In the end, follow what YOU think is right. You're still young. You will change your mind from age 18 all the way up to 24, at least. This is a time where you will be forming into an adult (being 18 does not cut it as an adult, I am sure most people would agree).

^This but if you can afford to go to school and someone is paying for it then go.

Also, it's not necessarily what you know, it's who you know.

It all comes down to your choice, it's good to take other peoples advice but in the long run you are going to have to live with the decisions you made.