They say youth is wasted on the young.

Remember when college was the exception not the norm? Heck, even completing high school wasn't absolutely necessary to live a comfortable life. If your family had a business, you worked there. If your father was a carpenter, you became a carpenter. If you had a passion for something, for example to become a doctor or teacher and you had the opportunity to go to college right after high school you did. However if not, you worked at a doctors office, and then went to school later if they still wanted to become a doctor. If you didn't have either scenario, you just got a job. Some had one job; others may have had several through out their lives.

Though this may seem like it was 100 years ago, in reality it wasn’t; this was life less then 35 years ago. Please don’t misunderstand me I believe education is essential. I also believe that we should have as many tools as we can in order to do the best we can in whichever job we have. However, in today's society, without college, it is almost impossible to obtain a career that you can make enough money to live on. My questions are when did it become impossible to obtain a job without college and when did a job become a career?

Our career was to live a life that is filled with passion, love, learning and creating; the job paid the bills and allowed one to pursue their career. Somewhere along the way this changed and I don’t know how or why, but I know we need to get back to that.

When I was younger I hated school, I tried community college when I finished high school but quit after one semester. Maybe I would have lasted longer had I gone away to a four year college. The reason would have been because I was away from home and my parents, and able to party; not for the education. I got a job and have worked for over 20 years now.

Through those years, I’ve married, had children and have continued to educate myself the best I can. If I could go to college now I would and I may when my children are older. I am happy with my life and the choices I made. I know with all my heart and soul that I will accomplish whatever I want to in life, whether it be easy to do or hard remains to be seen. How do I know this you may ask? The answer is simple; I have accomplished every important goal I've had.

Many people I graduated with who went to college immediately after high school did one of these things:

   1. changed their major

   2. are not working in the field their degree is in

   3. have gone back to school later in life to change their career

   4. are still in jobs they hate.

I honest think that the majority of 18 years olds have no idea what they want to do with their lives. I know I didn’t.

More importantly how could they know? Because from birth they are told what to do, how to think, who to like, what to want, etc. I don't mean this negatively; this naturally just comes from being a part of a family and a community. While I personally believe that we are stifling the sense of individuality and creativity in children today; many feel in today’s society it’s very necessary to have that security at the beginning of our lives. And I do feel there is a lot of truth to that. However for whatever the reason until college, the majority of children live in this cocoon. Upon graduating from high school they emerge and are ready to explore the world on their own. This time is so educational and exciting.

While there are those individuals who are either born or develop a passion for something at an early age, my sincere belief is that for most this not because of the scholastic education they are receiving in college. It’s the breaking away and being exposed to new people and surroundings that are the education they are not only seeking, but what I consider fundamentally important skills needed for their growth.

I believe that for those with that passion for something specific not only can, and possibly should proceed immediately to college, I also think that when you finish high school you should be required to spend some time "in the real world" before going to college. The cost of college alone is significant reason enough to not pursue an education when you don’t yet know what you want to do with your life. The far more vital reason is it’s your life and you need know how you want to spend the next 60 to 80 years living it.

I honestly feel the only way to accomplish that is to know about the world and what your role is in it. When you are a child, you believe the world revolves around you. Yes you go through different stages of this belief, from a toddler who believes everything is theirs to a young adult who begins to realize that is not true; but until you are “on your own” you do not have the ability to really understand this. This is simply because no matter how much you are taught, learn, and read about anything; until you experience it is impossible to know it.

I use the words college and education and the following are definitions of the words:

·        College: (Latin collegium) is a term most often used today to denote an educational institution. More broadly, it can be the name of any group of colleagues (see, for example electoral college, College of Arms, College of Cardinals). Originally, it meant a group of persons living together under a common set of rules (con- = "together" + leg- = "law" or lego = "I choose"); indeed, some colleges call their members "fellows". The precise usage of the term varies among English-speaking countries. courtesy of wikipedia

·        College: 2: a building used for an educational or religious purpose. courtesy of .merriam-webster.com

·        Education: encompasses both the teaching and learning of knowledge, proper conduct, and technical competency. It thus focuses on the cultivation of skills, trades or professions,…….education also includes knowledge and skills learned and refined during the course of life, including education that comes from experience in practicing a profession. courtesy of wikipedia

·        Education: 1 a: the action or process of educating or of being educated ; also : a stage of such a process b: the knowledge and development resulting from an educational process. courtesy of Merriam-webster.com

 This is something very import ant that I want to make sure I have clarified. I believe that from birth to death we are constantly receiving an education. We are learning every second of our lives, whether consciously or not. The mind constantly has the ability to learn and as humans we are able to know and understand that concept. That to me is the most miraculous and beautiful thing about a human being.

Our world has changed so much in the last 35 years. I think that much of it has been positive. The advances that have been made are incredible. We are doing what we are in the earth to do, learn and grow. I feel though that some areas have advanced quicker then others and one of the most important areas preparing our children for life. We have made the advances in scholastics, but not in educating them in living life. And I strongly believe that of the two, living life is much more vital to success has human beings then scholastics.

We need to find a way to balance the need for both. I think we need to regard this as critically important. That is why I think we need to not only consider the idea of taking time in between schooling; we should establish some type of system very quickly. When I us the word "we" I mean us; not government, leaders, schools, etc. We have become on world of ones and we need to become one world again.

We are sending our children out into the world more scholastically educated then previous generations, but so fundamentally and emotionally ill-equipped to live life that very soon no one will have a youth to waste.

though I know your up above

showering down nothing but love

my children were to little to remember

the love you shared without surrender

where do I begin to explain

everything from you I've gained

you were a strong yet gentle man

always there to hold my hand

though work filled your everyday

you gave me time, you found a way

you drove many, many a mile

just to surprise and make me smile

even when you were to weak to walk

you always had the strength to talk

to hold, to cuddle

my two precious bundles

loving them with all your heart

knowing to soon you'd have to part

giving them enough to last forever

until we are all again together

on me, my girls can depend

telling them from beginning to end

this is how I will help them see

all the ways you meant to me

Copyright ©2008 Mary Colleen Hamson