It's cruel and inhumane how our education and careers work in the USA, I wish it was better for all of us.
I took one year of college after high school. I dropped out because I didn't know what degree I wanted and didn't know myself well enough to pick. And yes, I was on my own supporting myself and putting myself through college but I don't think education should be limited to those that are privileged. Point is, I didn't want more student loans for a degree that was worthless to me.
Now it's been almost a decade, I do have some ideas of what careers I could go for. As soon as I get the idea though? I dismiss it because it involves college. I shouldn't right?
But I can't imagine having more student loans when I can't afford to live now even with the measly few dollar increase I would get after college.
I can't imagine working full time AND going to college because I'm already burnt out just working full time and living. Doing classes on top sounds awful. Even if I stretched the classes out more years (would be probably 6-7 years). Part of this is taking the generic classes you don't need to be "well-rounded" like I could give a shit less about trying to learn another language. Sorry, my brain is ass with my own language, but it's a requirement. So not only would I have to suffer through a class I wouldn't use but I gotta pay for it and waste time on it. Needless to say, I don't think I could endure that 6-7 years let alone 1 year.
Granted, I do have ADHD and Autism so apparently life is harder for me especially on the executive function side. But what does college need a lot of? Executive function. It's a joke, honestly.
Still, let's dismiss that and say I'm neurotypical. When you hear someone went through college (beyond that magical 4-6 years after high school), it's impressive and shocking. Why? Because you KNOW they neglected some part of their life, majorly sacrificed, and/or have some sort of resource the rest of us don't have. It's rare someone changes careers and it's not because they don't want to. When you go to any sort of place to get help with job seeking they will work with what experience and current education you have now, not what you WANT to do and if you ask, they'll laugh and say you don't have the right history.
Granted, I'll acknowledge I came from a fucked up neglectful and dysfunctional family. So yeah it took time to heal, scrape them from my life and get myself emotionally and mentally together to actually get to know myself. BUT you can't tell me "normal" 18 year olds know who they are and who they want to be when they only have experienced school. They don't even know what they would value in a workplace setting and most aren't aware of what careers are out there. Plus their brains develop from mid to late 20s. So yeah basically where I am right now except as a neurodivergent my brain is still developing for sure. Still, dismissing that, a neurotypical would also have a better idea who they are and what they want to be after the 10 years from when they "should" have gone to college.
I have so much compassion for all of us. I wonder where our society would be if we were able to get the education we needed to better ourselves and our lives. The domino effect of people being happier in their jobs and lives, more educated, and less burnt out would be astronomical.
Me personally? I'm just so sad our country is currently structured on making sure underprivileged are powerless and literally take steps to make sure they stay there. I've fought and fought and often wonder why I try in a system built to keep me here. But, it's my life. I didn't survive my shit family just to be pushed around by a shit society. Even if I never get to actually have the opportunities that others get naturally, I will still fight as long as I can. Because I deserve that. If you made it this far, you deserve that too. We deserve to pursue what inspires us, brings us joy and a sense of wonder. It's okay to feel like giving up sometimes but that doesn't mean we will.
Sometimes along the way we can find other things that fulfill us enough that a job isn't important. That's okay too. Whatever happens, I hope you continue to seek joy and fulfillment.
