College not the only option after high school

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There are many options for the 18-year olds with fresh ink on the diplomas in their hands ready to take on the world, only one of them is college. For a high school student there are many decisions to make during their senior year, one of which is ‘what are your plans after high school?’

Many students feel that their only option is college or they will not get a job that pays enough to support themselves or their family. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 68.3 percent of students who graduated in 2011 were enrolled in college, but only 40 percent of those students graduated within 4 years and 58 percent graduated in 6 years. Out of those graduates, only 27 percent hold a job closely related to their major of choice and only 62 percent hold a job that requires a degree. A college degree does not guarantee a well paying job, or even a job you love.

Life after high school should not have to be college. There are graduates out there without degrees who are happy with their lives.

“I got married two months after high school and didn’t go to college,” 2014 BHS graduate Janel Hirt said. “My husband and I started our own farm about a year ago and since I took as many business classes as I could in high school, I have the knowledge I need.”

There are some students that need college to pursue the career that they desire.

“I want to be a nurse,” senior Elizabeth Christener said. “You can’t go get a job at a hospital taking care of patients without formal training. I have to go to college to get that training.”

High school is a time to decide what you want to do with the rest of your life. College is not your only choice, it is only one. Even if you do not go to college right after high school you can still go later. So whether you go to college or you take a year off to travel or decide not to go to college at all, high school should be a time to decide what is right for you. High school is not a time to be pressured into college because it is what your teachers believe to be the best course for students life after graduation.