College? A Trade? What Should I Do?

I don't know about you, but this was the hardest decision I've had to make. Let me give you some pointers based on my experience. I've done both. I'm here to help.

So you don’t know what to do with yourself when you graduate High-School. Some people believe college is the only option. Some people believe trades are the future and theirs always money in them. Lucky for you I have done both.

At 18 years old freshly graduated from high school it is hard to pick a college major that you’ll both enjoy and will make you money. Six months ago you were still raising your hand to use the restroom, now your asked one of the most important life decisions you’ll ever make. Personally, I wish I would have waited until I had some life experience to make an informed decision about a worth while major.

If you don’t have a clear direction. Pick a trade. Gain a skill. Learn something that will always serve you. Do this while your young, because I can tell you from experience, apprenticing at 28 years old is not a good time. This doesn’t have to be forever. This will give you great life experience, teach you valuable skills that you will use forever, and you’ll make way better money than all your friends. It doesn’t have to be hard labor. You can also try to enter into an entry level sales position. If you do decide to go to college, you’ll be way ahead of the game when you’re done.

If you do choose college right off the bat, understand unless you are absolutely incredible at something, like knowing you are going to write the next Harry Potter series, do not major in something like english. That’s 200k down the drain. You’ll end up an editor for 40k a year. Think about what is most needed in today's world.

Business degrees are always going to be useful and with internships you’ll make incredible connections. If you’re not fond of the corporate world… I feel you. Maybe this isn’t the best direction for you.

Engineering degrees are always in demand. Their are many different types of engineers and all of them are in demand and pay well. If you want to get into the construction field, civil engineering is a great degree. Don’t be that engineer with no practical experience though. Spend a few summers in construction, on job sites, and understand how they work and how trades function together. From a tradesman’s perspective engineers are idiots, so change that! Also, construction management is an awesome degree with huge opportunities. 60k out of school and an endless amount of jobs in all the major cities.

Any computer science degree will be absolutely gold. That’s the way of the world today. Coding, cyber security, anything in the tech sphere will provide you great work life balance and a ton of money. A long with this is marketing. Every company is using social media to market today. Marketing is a tough, competitive field, but is exciting and will definitely provide a great life.

My best piece of advice is, don’t listen to anyone else. Do what you believe is right for you. Don’t let anyone pressure you one side or the other. If you have any questions, feel free to message me. Good luck!