I just read the most amazing piece online.  It spoke about how college isn’t for everybody.  Maybe people have been saying this all along, but WOW.  What a breath of fresh air.  When did college become right for all of us?  Was it the same time tuition began to increase at a ridiculous rate on a yearly basis?

Sure, I’d like to think that everyone should go to college for the learning opportunities, but let’s be real.  Not everybody is a good mix for college.  And I think it’s time people face that fact.  If we can admit not everybody is programmed to be a doctor, we should be able to say not everyone is programmed to learn in a college setting.  And if we think everyone is, then I think we have to admit that college has been dumbed down to accept every person that wants to attend school.

While I think education is extremely important, in particular a liberal arts education, not everyone is interested in things like art, literature, theatre or music.  One of the things that I have tried to do at home is to create a love of learning.  I want my kids to always be interested in how things work, to appreciate good art and to question things.  I want them always looking for solutions.  But not every solution is found in college.

I remember years ago a cousin dropping out of school because she didn’t know what she wanted to do.  I thought it was the bravest move at the time.  My parents, and I am sure her parents, didn’t seem to think so.  Yet, she got a job and supported herself.  A few years later, she went back to school.  She graduated, traveled a lot, and learned another language.

I think of my uncle who loved cars and who could do anything to fix them.  Do you really need college to work on cars or own a body shop?  Not really.  You do need to have brains, but I think most people who work on cars, people we really go to in society, didn’t learn their skills in school.

I’m not sure what I’m really saying about all of this.  I just know that as I watch my best friend return to school to study something that he really loves at 42, AFTER going to medical school because as a really smart person that is what he was supposed to do, I have a lot of questions about college.  I promised myself that I would allow my children to study what they wanted when they went to school.

When Squirt told me that he wanted to open a shop to “trick” cars, I inwardly rolled my eyes.  But at the same time, didn’t laugh at his dream.  If that is what he wants, shouldn’t I try to help him run towards a goal that might actually make him happy rather than force him into a career that he hates?  Because another reality is that a lot of people really can’t stand their jobs.  And it isn’t easy to find new jobs.  Why force college to study something you have no interest in just so you can move right back home.  Would it be so terrible to encourage learning a valued skill you are interested in at a technical school?

Now this doens’t mean I am encourging my children not to attend college.  It does mean I am going to continue teaching them to discern God’s will for their talents.  Their talents will most likely all be different ranging from cars to medical school to the priesthood.  (I can dream can’t I?!  And I know, I know, God’s will, not mine.)   In the end, I want my kids to love learning and not be stifled by anyone.  I want my kids to listen to God.  I want them to be educated, but just as I embrace the differences in my children in their learning at age 5, I have to embrace it once they finish high school as well.

So no answers, just more questions.  But isn’t that good, to be asking questions rather than assuming everyone has to live a specific way?