How Sometimes College Is Not the Best Option

For a lot of students, their last year of high school is centered around sending in applications to their top colleges and going on visits to see campuses. Today, college is very much the "norm," meaning that more people are attending college than in the past. All of high school seems to be leading up to going to university, and for a lot of students, trying to decide what you want to do with your life is stressful, considering that students go from having to ask to use the bathroom, to having to choose a major that will dictate what their career will be.

I am one of those students. I had applied to the School of Arts at my college but did not turn in a portfolio because I did not have anything to add to it besides my film photography. I changed my major to criminal justice, something that I had never quite considered, but sounded interesting. After all, I was very intrigued by crime shows and was fascinated with the idea of forensics. After two years of studying criminal justice, however, I realized that I could not remember anything that I learned. I was spending thousands of dollars each year, and for what? I had not retained any of the information that I was learning in my classes that were related to my major, but I did not want to consider switching my major because of the time I had already put into my courses.

I began to feel very drained when it came to school. I was unable to focus on my readings, and I would only write my five-page papers the night before they were due. I had no motivation to continue with my schooling. I have been battling depression, among other mental illnesses, for years now, and I was unable to shake the feeling that attending college would get me nowhere in life. Criminal justice no longer interested me, and I could not see myself pursuing a career in the field. I would lay in bed at night, weighing the pros and cons of dropping out of school in my head. I had already put so much money and time into school, and so it made no sense for me to drop out. At the same time, however, I was not learning anything and was no longer interested in attending. I made the decision to switch my degree from a Bachelor's to an Associate's. While I wanted to go ahead and finish out with my criminal justice degree, I was unable to, because the remaining classes that I needed to graduate were only offered during the summer, and I could not afford it. So I changed my major to general studies, and I am currently on track to graduate in December 2018.

Throughout my experience with college, I thought about how there must be so many more students like me, who do not have an interest in higher education, but feel like they do not have any other option but to attend college. High school has a tendency to push higher education onto students, without fully considering their skills and how a trade school may be more beneficial to their specific needs. Students are often not given enough time to think about college, and unless they are willing to take a year off of school after graduating, many of them feel like the only way for them to get a well-paying job is to spend thousands on more schooling. Not only is this a poor financial decision for a lot of students, but it can also be extremely damaging to their mental health. Attending school does take a lot out of some people, and it would be easier and far more reasonable for them to have the chance to consider a trade school, or going ahead with entering the workforce.

I believe that higher education should not be pushed upon students as it currently is, nor should it be seen as the only way for young adults to get good jobs. It should be the parent's and the school's responsibility to help students make good decisions that will end up benefiting them in the end, instead of blindly pushing students into environments that could be harmful for their mental health and productivity.