Overheard a guy at a bus stop say college is just a 4 year time out and it got me thinking

I was waiting for the 67 bus near downtown Portland last week and this older guy in a work vest says to his buddy something like 'college is just a 4 year time out from real life, you come out owing money and still don't know what you want.' It hit me hard because that's exactly what I was feeling before I dropped out of community college last spring. I was taking general ed classes I had zero interest in, just going through the motions because my mom pushed me to enroll. That one sentence made me realize I was basically paying to delay figuring out my own path. I walked away from my second semester with about $2,300 in debt from books and fees I couldn't get back. Now I'm working full time at a warehouse and taking a night class in welding that actually keeps my attention. Has anyone else had a random stranger say something that made you rethink your whole plan?

2 comments

2 Comments

dakota16019d ago

Gotta look at it from the other side too. That guy at the bus stop probably had a trade or skill he learned on the job, not in a classroom. So for him, college looked like a waste of time and money. But what about the people who actually need that time out to figure themselves out? Some folks are thrown into real life at 18 with no safety net and they crash hard. That four years can be a buffer where you make mistakes without losing your rent money. Just saying, maybe college isn't the problem, maybe it's that we're forcing 18 year olds to commit to a path they haven't even discovered yet. Your welding class sounds like a smart move by the way.

sethb4519d ago

Started a history degree at 22 because I had no clue what else to do, spent the first two years switching majors like three times. Landed on something totally random after taking a class on ancient farming techniques of all things, ended up loving it. That buffer time is real, it's like a free trial for figuring out what you actually want to do without the stress of eviction hanging over your head. But yeah, 18 is way too young to be locked into anything, some people just need that extra few years to catch up to themselves.