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After High School | Pad Patter 4-11-23

littlekiwi said:
@gonewiththewind sometimes waiting is best, I ended up waiting about 6 or 7 years post high school before I did my degree and should have waited til then to do any form of post high school study rather than attempt various qualifications, fail or quit them and have a mountain of student loan debt for it. I was much more settled at 25 rather than 19 studying.
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Thank you for the encouragement!!!
 
What was your route after high school? I worked for an insurance company as a file clerk -- yes back when there were paper files in rows and rows of metal shelves. I practiced typing (yes on a real typewriter) to get my speed fast enough to move to the typing pool. At some point I realized what the limitations of my future at the insurance company might be and I started community college part time. Eventually, I went on to complete my bachelor's degree in electrical engineering. It took a while and I took on part-time transcription work to help get me through college. After college, I found work in the commercial aerospace industry and never left. During all of my work history, when people would come into my office, they would always be amazed at how fast I could type without looking at the keys.

What did you kids do? My daughter went to in-state college about 1-1/2 hours away from home. Her passion was in theatre costume design. She is currently working in clothing retail and considering some additional schooling that would offer her advancement and more "normal" hours.

other family? my parents never went to any college, but all of my dad's siblings did. Something about they were supposed to help him out. My dad was in the Navy for a few years and I don't think there was anything he couldn't fix. (Might be why the interest in engineering for me.) My mom worked as a receptionist for an insurance agent. My husband had started college, but he quit -- looking back he probably had some sort of undiagnosed attention deficit disorder. For work, he fixed things -- he worked in various industries; he was another one of those who could fix just about anything and we met at my dad's stereo repair shop (he fixed a lot of other things too).
 
After high school I went to one year of college at a university three hours away from home then moved home and finished a bachelor's degree in math at a university 20 minutes from home.
 
Neither one of my parents went to college. My dad owned his own business and my mom helped him run it.

I went to a small Bible college for a year. Then got married.
My hubby graduated from UCF with a computer engineering degree (he was the first in his family to get a college degree).

My oldest daughter did dual enrollment in 11th and 12th grade at our local community college while homeschooling and then decided to go to our local state university since they have one of the best nursing programs in our state and it's close enough that she has been able to commute. She'll graduate this year! She's not even 20 - so proud of her!

My 2nd oldest will graduate high school this year (she also took several dual enrollment classes) and will also be attending the local state university but she is going for a Piano Pedagogy degree. She wants to own her own piano teaching studio.

My 3rd oldest will be in 11th grade in the fall....and I don't think she's ready for dual enrollment. She's not as focused or as mature as they were. Seriously don't know what direction she'll go in...she's a gifted artist, violinist, and dancer. The problem with her is that she wants to do EVERYTHING.

My 4th oldest has his mind set on being an aerospace engineer. And I totally can see that happening.

My 5th wants to be a historian.
My 6th wants to be a tow truck driver.
My 7th wants to be a nurse like her oldest sister.

We've told our kids that college is not necessary, but for some jobs it is. So, depending on what you want to do you'll either definitely have to go to college...or you can take another path. It doesn't matter!
 
I went to college and wish dual-enrollment had been a thing then as I could have thrived with that in high school. I was a National Merit Scholar and could have (literally) gone anywhere - I was recruited by everyone. I *thought* I wanted to be an architect and, in the end, went to Ball State, about 90 minutes from home. Second best decision ever. I was forced out of architecture (after trying to quit the second week) by having mono (this was pre-steroid era, so I had to suck it up and sleep a lot). I ended up in what was then the top Entrepreneurship program in the country. By going to Ball State, DH (then my high school sweetheart one year behind me) was able to also attend. We married my senior year. Best decision ever. While I waited a year for him to finish his bachelor's, I got a Masters in English (yeah, the business school wasn't excited about that swap!) DH worked for major railroads and we moved 9 times in 7 years. Eventually we spent enough time in Dallas that I got to ABD status on a PhD. Took me another five years, encompassing two jobs and a baby, to write the dissertation (long-distance - we'd moved again) and defend.

About the only thing I've done with the doctorate is teach community college. We homeschooled (but the doctorate doesn't help you teach kindergarten!!!) I'm more proud of helping some local kids with autism get their equivalency diplomas for high school than about anything else.

Dd, well she's very smart, and autistic. She's always wanted to be in the beauty industry, but not as a model. She graduated in 2018, and, somewhat defiantly, went off with a boyfriend we didn't particularly care for and move to far south Texas (she was born and raised in Indiana). She left him after three years, got settled in her own place, was doing well, then was a passenger in a car accident that nearly killed her last year. After all of that - she finally enrolled in cosmetology school in January of this year and, just today, won a medal at a state competition in esthetics! So, perhaps she's finally getting things in order - just a little later than some. I desperately want her closer to Indiana - it's so hard to help when she is so far away. I don't care that she didn't go to college - but I am glad to see her getting into a field with some sort of "barrier to entry". She made decent wages and tips in better restaurants, and got glowing reviews. But, with the downturn in the economy, I'm happy she's working toward something that requires licensing.

My folks didn't go to college. My dad was accepted into a local college, but my grandfather needed him to stay home to help with his mother (who had mental health issues) and the farm. My mom didn't go to college and, from what I can figure out, she had a career going until - surprise! I was born - she was 42. I was never forgiven for that (truly). But she always worked out of the house.
 
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