College Isn't For Everyone

About to finish high school but don't want to attend college next fall? If so, you're part of a growing trend of high school graduates who buck at enrolling in college immediately out of high school. Due to the economy, the rising cost of college tuition or simply to a new sense of independence, many high school graduates are now opting to put off attending traditional college indefinitely in order to pursue their career goals elsewhere.

If you need a break from the traditional classroom, here are some options for you.

Enlist

The five branches of the U.S. armed services, the Navy, Air Force, Marine Corp., Army and Coast Guard, do not require a college degree for enlistment. From police officer to barber to electrician, every job imaginable in the civilian world is also available in the U.S. military and the best thing is, you get a paycheck while you learn these valuable skills and serve your country. If you stick it out for 20 years, you can retire as young as 37 years old with a full pension and medical benefits for the rest of your life.

If you really hate classrooms though, this might not be an ideal work environment for you. Most training is done in a classroom-like setting. Advancement in rank, leadership responsibilities and pay is based in part on how much training you have received.

If while enlisted, you decide that you want to attend college, there are plenty of opportunities for you to pursue your degree while still serving. I know some people who completed their college degrees while serving in combat in Iraq or Afghanistan.

With the G.I. Bill, Tuition Assistance and a variety of other tuition payment benefits, service members can easily afford to attend college while serving or upon completion of service. Furthermore, many colleges grant educational credit for military training.

With some military specialties, service members can receive college degrees faster than if they had attended regular college. For instance, if a service member trains to be an interrogator or intelligence analyst, they can obtain enough credits for an associate degree from Cochise College in Arizona. The Defense Language Institute's Foreign Language Center (DLIFLC) in Monterey, California has been accredited as a degree granting institution. If an individual completes a qualifying program, they can obtain an associate's degree from DLIFLC as well. That's a total of two associate degrees in as little as one year's worth of training.

Civic Service

There are other ways to serve your country that don't involve wearing a uniform and shooting a weapon. Each year, thousands of Americans join the Peace Corps or AmeriCorps. These two federal programs give young volunteers the ability to help make their communities or other communities around the world a better place.

Peace Corps volunteers are usually required to sign up for a two year stint. After initial training, they find themselves working on medical, construction or educational projects around the world. The pay is very minimal but the responsibilities and the real life experiences gained during this service make it a very rewarding option.

AmeriCorps is like the Peace Corps except that the service is performed within the U.S. and is usually for stints of less than one year. Participants receive some training and volunteer in their local communities working on social issues related to crime and safety, education, affordable housing, combating illiteracy, etc.

One of the perks of serving in these programs is the experience participants receive from their service. It always looks great on a resume. Many colleges require students to complete an internship or a certain amount of volunteer hours in order to graduate. By completing these programs, a student gets this requirement out of the way before ever stepping foot in a classroom.

Like the Peace Corps, the pay is minimal. Participants usually just receive a small living allowance. Upon completion of service though, several college scholarships and grants are available. Furthermore, some educational institutions provide matching scholarships for Peace Corps and AmeriCorps participants.

Unionize

There are many labor jobs that pay really good money but colleges usually don't offer courses in carpentry, plumbing or bricklaying for example. If you enjoy working with your hands, check out your local labor unions. Unions usually provide their own apprentices with classroom and on the job training. As you progress through your training, you will receive pay increases. You won't get out of learning science or algebra though. These are subjects that are vital to the labor industry. However, you will learn these academic skills as they relate to your specific job so you won't have to worry about hours of problem solving homework each night.

Union work can be difficult to obtain. However, once an individual gets into the field, they start gaining seniority and all the perks that come with it; increased pay, better work assignments, job security, etc.

So, there are many career opportunities for individuals upon completion of high school. However, you won't ever escape the classroom. Some type of formalized training is required for any career field you may attempt to get in to as well as for advancement in that field.