September 3, 2009

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I saw a report on TV the other night about Purdue University in Peru (pronounced PEE-roo), Ind. They've started a program that works to keep students enrolled past their freshmen year. Nationally, the report said, 34 percent of college freshmen either drop out, flunk out or go to a different college their second year.

That stat tells me two things. A little more than a third of all college students choose the wrong school, and not every kid is college material. I know about the latter. I was one of them. I would've wasted a lot of time and money as a college student. I would've flunked out by the first grade period. I knew me well enough then to know that I would've excelled in alcohol, drugs, sex and art. I would've done all right in rock 'n' roll, too, but I would've cratered in everything else.

The national intense emphasis on college is a huge societal mistake. It's causing many kids and their families to make the wrong choice. A kid who would make a fine electrician, craftsman or a plumber might flunk out at a university. A musician who might be a star in music school could go down in flames at a liberal arts college. A young woman who deep down inside wants to be a nurse, paralegal, or a dental hygienist but doesn't want to disappoint mom and dad might find out the hard way that she doesn't belong at State U. A kid who would excel in art school might not do well taking courses he thinks are a waste of time like French lit, economics or calculus (isn't that what grows on the backs of your teeth?)

And speaking of math, it's not for everybody. I mean, really, that's why they make calculators. Think of it this way. Instead of math, what if the national obsession was on drawing? That would be fine for me, but most of my friends would be sunk. Not everybody has the affinity for art. Not everybody has the affinity for math, either, and it's downright criminal to expect otherwise.  

My advice to high school kids is to take time to resist the siren song of society and its schizoid demands and search deep inside your heart and think about what makes the time fly for you. That's right. That's the key, what makes the time fly. If writing makes the time fly, by all means, go to college and learn to be a writer. If taking things apart and fixing things makes the time fly, go to a trade school and learn how to repair machines.

I know one of the most successful engine builders in the Northeast who dropped out of college and went to trade school. Among other things, he built Paul Newman's racing engines. He's made enough money to send four kids to college, one of them to become a doctor. And you know what? He's never looked back.

In the end, everybody has to overcome their education. That's just the way it is. We all become who we were meant to be, whether we were educated for it or not. The soul has a mind of its own.


A brilliant editorial...Especially the last line !

I agree with your statements about Trade Schools: "If taking things apart and fixing things makes the time fly, go to a trade school and learn how to repair machines". However Connecticut's Technical
School System offers more than "take it apart and put it back together" programs. The system has a wonderful array of skill programs for high school and adult education. The system is not a dumping ground for discipline cases or a place for school systems to send their handicapped students to avoid those high related costs. Nor are they the "last chance for dummies schools" of long ago. It is a place for talented people who want a serious technical education and a life long career opportunity. I hope you hear from its graduates and career professionals many of whom are now captains of businesses, health programs and industries in Connecticut.

Excellent comments. Thank you. I have always been dismayed and puzzled that the technical/trade schools seem to have some sort of stigma attached to them. We really need well trained trades people, and they often out earn those of us who went to college and paid college loans for years. Having grown up in eastern Connecticut where there was a local "trade school," I often think about this and occasionally get up on a soapbox on this issue.

I try to read all of your comments on the cartoons, mostly for an explanation of what it means. Today's is a TREASURE ! How can a youngster go wrong following that kind of advice. Let's hope that some of the narrow-minded parents read it also and take it to heart.
Thank you.

Thank you Bob!!! A beautifully written piece!


Thank you for a well written article.
I have thought this for years! I myself went into the service after high school, due to the fact that I was not "college material." I know I was not ready for the college experience, and it would have been a waste of time and money. I am not saying that college does not have anything to offer, but usually the college class lends itself for a soapbox for the professor to instill his/her value systems and personal preferences. If the college experience was truly objective, I would be more supportive of college. Our educational system is producing cookie cutter results which does not address individual strengths.

Apparently you weren't very good at Geography either. Purdue is in West Lafayette, Indiana, about 50 miles away from Peru, IN. And they must have a good educational system there. The state government isn't in the red.

Robert Pedini, and everyone. Thanks for your comments. The best education I ever got was working for newspapers. Say what you want about newspapers, it's the best liberal arts education around.

Sure, I had great teachers at the American Academy of Art in Chicago. They taught me solid fundamentals and gave me confidence. I've met successful cartoonists in the newspaper business, first-rate writers, journalists, thinkers and a few good editors along the way.

I've always loved to read even as a kid. An editorial writer turned me on to E.B. White whose prose turned me on to writing as a profession. I've had so many solid, positive influences in the newspaper business I can't list them all in this short space. And the beauty of it is that it has always been, and still is, earn while you learn!


I agree with your opinion that higher education in the traditional sense is not appropriate for everyone. Skilled craftsmen will always perform a key productive role in society. One of the major flaws in university-level education is that outside of the professional studies areas, math and science most faculty are extreme left-wing, i.e. non-productive parasites bent on destruction.

But your denigration of educational achievement is asinine. In reality, it is a blame shift for your lack of intellectual success. Dr. Freud’s work would have a lot to say about your hang-ups. Only a moron values being stupid!

Would so many people be in financial crisis if they knew the principles and mathematics of the present value of future cash flows, interest rates and financial analyses? You can view analytical/financial ignorance as bliss, but I see it as a one way, fast track to failure.

Brucemky, well I'll be dipped. West Lafayette, eh? I learn something every day from my informative and superior bloggers. One thing I've learned from some of the responses is that a person can be college educated and still a moron. What sets me apart from the morons is that I'm paid to do this. They do it for nothing! Hahahahaha!

I'm a blog enthusiast and with so many blogs on the internet now, very few stand out.

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