[The Monkey]

OP, sorry if this has been asked, by why exactly do you need to make this decision within the next 2 years? Won't you only be a senior in HS by then?

My $.02: focus on your grades and going to the best college possible that you can afford without taking on too much debt. Then focus on your grades there. A path will emerge at some point, and your options and opportunities will increase based upon your high performance in school.

The economy is changing too fast right now and certain industries have been reshaped in a matter of months. That will continue for a bit. No sense preparing now for a job that may not exist in x years when you graduate.

 

[Scott_Tarlow]

I agree with the previous poster, but don't let money stop you from going to your dream college. Loans, grants, scholarships are available for those willing to work for them. Education is more valuable than money, any day of the week.

 

[Zarathustra19]

Since its in the minority of advice right now, I'll reiterate what Uncle Erik and a few others have said, seriously look into a trade. It seems that college is becoming the new high school (or has already become). People are only going because it is expected of them. A great example of this is my younger brother. He began asking similar questions to yours back when he was entering high school. By the time he graduated, he'd still not come to any clear decision because he was focused on going to college. Now, he's switched his major twice once to business once to mathematics, and still has no idea what he wants to do with it. This means he's going to be several tens of thousands of dollars on a college education without a clear-cut goal as to what he wants out of life.

Now, as a graduate with an English degree and a current law student, I have to tell you that no matter what you decide to do in college (if you go), you will have to read a lot to get through it. As much as the written word is losing status with today's young people, reading comprehension is still something that you must have in order to succeed in almost any profession.

Good luck with your soul search these next few years, and all hopes for success.

Cheers,
Zach

 

[nickosha]

The grass is always greener on the otherside.

The electricians I work with and a few others I know don't really think of it as something to really consider instead of college. Last week I went salmon fishing with my father and two of his friends, one of which is an electrician like my dad. Well the subject kind of got to me because I worked as an electrical apprentice for the summer and then to some new electricians at his job. I was kind of out of the conversation, but he said "I always ask these new guys right out of high school, 'why the HELL do you want to be an electrician, out of everything else there is?'"

Anyways a few of the guys at work have encouraged me to definitely go to college, but you can tell there is a some grass is greener thoughts going on there, too. Anyways I thought I'd just put that point of view out there. I'm sure that jobs in the trades are the perfect fit for some people and I think we all know that they are very important to the community, but definitely learn what you are getting into before making the decision to do that, or anything else you think you might be interested in.