High School Graduation – Where Do I Go From Here?

Time to do some soul searching.
BRYCE ON EDUCATION

Before graduating from high school you will hopefully have a game plan as to how you are going to lead your life. Maybe you sought advice from your parents, a trusted guidance counselor, a teacher or a close friend. Perhaps you also attended a college recruiting session, visited a campus, a trade school, or a military advisor. And hopefully you started investigating these options in your junior year or earlier. Unfortunately, some people do not. Their path is perhaps dictated by their parents, or you have no lans at all and will likely drift aimlessly away.

A lot of this depends on your maturity and an understanding of who you are and where you want to go. Because parents typically guide us in our journey, there are many who just go on autopilot and do not really think about their future. Back in the days of the draft, you either knew where you were going with your life after high school or the military would make the decision for you. Going in the military is not a bad option as many young people have no sense of direction following graduation. The service can give them a sense of purpose, structure and organization. For example, I had friends return from Viet Nam who finally knew who they were and what they wanted to do, and pursued their dreams with passion.

We also must be cognizant of the fact our career paths may very well twist and turn over time. Regardless of what we initially set our sights on, conditions may change and we may find ourselves following a completely different track. Some of the best systems analysts I’ve met over the years did not graduate with a degree in computing or I.T. Instead, they had backgrounds in Library Science or music.

It is usually during the senior year when our elders admonish us to “shoot for the stars”; translation: push yourself, which I agree with. However, our dreams must be tempered by reality. For example, I know a young man who wanted to pursue a music career. It was his dream to play in a symphony and, in the end, he was perfectly capable of doing so. However, it didn’t exactly work out that way for him. He received a Bachelor’s degree in music before going on to graduate school where he earned a Masters degree. Today he works at a Men’s Wearhouse and is saddled with a substantial college debt. He hasn’t given up on his dream yet, but the reality of a limited market and the economics of a college loan altered his plans.

When making your plans, consider both the costs involved and the benefits derived from these different career paths:

DROP-OUT
No costs, other that you will likely become a ward of the state or a drain on your family. It’s also hard to find a job that pay’s well without a High School or GED diploma.

HIGH SCHOOL/GED
Again, no costs involved, but your career path is limited to modest jobs unless you happen to start a business of your own.

TRADE SCHOOLS
Trade schools are a viable alternative for a lot of people who do not have the economic resources for college but know precisely the type of job they want, such as: technician, machine tools, automotive service, plumbing, computers, heating and air conditioning, golf, hotel management, etc. There is actually a lot of certification program to choose from, and most pay well. Costs vary based on the program and location, but figure approximately $10K for a two year program.
See: http://tradeschools.weebly.com/

MILITARY
There are no costs involved here other than your time. You won’t become a millionaire, but you can earn a decent wage. According to militarypaychart.us, the average serviceman is paid $18K-$25K depending on rank. Of course, this will go up if you make a career out of the military. Officers make much more, which is a good reason to attend Officer Candidate School or a military academy (ROTC in college isn’t bad either). The Post 9-11 GI-Bill also provides the means to pay for your college tuition if you are so inclined. A 36 month hitch in the service will pay 100%. In the meantime, you will learn new skills, discipline, organization, and gain a sense of purpose.

COLLEGE: COMMUNITY/ASSOCIATE’S DEGREE
Community Colleges offer the ability to obtain an Associate’s degree, which carries less weight than a Bachelor’s degree, but isn’t bad either. It’s also a good way to determine if you are college material, and relatively inexpensive to boot. According to the The College Board, in-state students currently pay $3,131 a year on the average ($6,262 total). The professors and instructors are certainly qualified to teach but are likely not of the caliber of a full four year institution. Fortunately, your credits earned here can be transferred to a four year college if you are so inclined, but check with the institution for details.

COLLEGE: STATE/BACHELOR’S DEGREE
Again, according to The College Board, the cost for a four year college education for in-state students is $8,655 annually. Basically, you are looking at a $35K investment. Out-of-state students will pay more, $21,706 annually (approximately $87K). The next question is, how will this be paid? By your parents or are you going to need a college loan? In other words, this is becoming an expensive proposition. Can you honestly justify why you want to go to this school? If you are going to pay a lot for your education, do not go into it half-hearted.

Four year colleges offer good instruction and allows the student to focus on their studies without having to move from one campus to another.

COLLEGE: PRIVATE/BACHELOR’S DEGREE
Again, according to The College Board, the average cost for a four year degree in a private college is $29,056 annually (that’s right, in excess of $116K). In addition to a good education, attendance at private schools look better on a resume and can help you network with the right people. Again, big bucks are involved here. Who is going to pay, and are you really up to the task?

COLLEGE: GRADUATE SCHOOL
Should you wish to pursue a Master’s Degree, P.A., or a Ph.D, be prepared for substantial costs. Most Master’s and P.A. degrees costs approximately $50K. Medical physician degrees can cost upwards to $100K-$200K, if not more depending on the specialty. You better be confident of what you are doing if you are pursuing such a career path. In addition to paying such exorbitant fees, many big businesses offer assistance as they want to help their employees grow and develop into better workers. Such programs are definitely worth checking out.

Your continuing education is not an inexpensive proposition. Many young people do not understand the economic implications and find themselves shackled in debt for years. So much so, college debt recently exceeded credit card debt in this country, which is mind-boggling. In other words, as a graduating high school senior, it is time to do some serious soul searching: Do you really know where you want to go? Something you should be cognizant of at all times, it is YOUR life, not your parents or anyone else. If your family can help you, great. If they cannot, where do you want to go and how do you plan to get there? Ideally, everyone must lead a worthy and meaningful life. It is also more important to find a career as opposed to a job, but necessity may dictate you do otherwise, which is why people find themselves moving in another direction as opposed to their original goal.

One last note, there is nothing requiring you to pursue higher education. Attending school in your youth may have been mandated by the state, but now you are grown and legally on your own. Whereas the taxpayer had been footing the bills for your education, it is now up to you. This means attending college or a trade school is not a right, but a privilege. Don’t blow it.

As an aside, be sure to check out my book, “Morphing into the Real World” – the Handbook for entering the Work Force; a Comprehensive Survival Guide for Adulthood.

Keep the Faith!

Note: All trademarks both marked and unmarked belong to their respective companies.

Tim Bryce is a writer and the Managing Director of M&JB Investment Company (M&JB) of Palm Harbor, Florida and has over 30 years of experience in the management consulting field. He can be reached at timb001@phmainstreet.com

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Copyright © 2013 by Tim Bryce. All rights reserved.

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The key to academic success – Spirituality!

This story is something that a lot of groups should pay attention to as the relationships of religious/spiritual interests and academia have grown cold in many places.

Of particular note is that as this piece comes out of UCLA, one of the first 12 structures of the community of Westwood, where the school resides, was a Masonic clubhouse built to serve UCLA students and alumni (which it did for 40 years), and is now called the Geffen Playhouse.

Los Angeles – Researchers from UCLA’s Spirituality in Higher Education project have found that spiritual growth in college students enhances academic outcomes such as scholastic performance, psychological well-being, leadership development and satisfaction with college. Cultivating the Spirit: How College Can Enhance Students’ Inner Lives, written by Alexander W. Astin, Helen S. Astin and Jennifer A. Lindholm, is the first national longitudinal study of students’ spiritual growth. The book’s research represents a national study of college students’ search for meaning and purpose.

For example, compared to students whose equanimity declines during college, those whose equanimity increases have a 50% better chance of earning at least a B+ average. Similarly, students whose Equanimity increases during college, compared to those whose Equanimity declines, are nearly three times more likely to end up being “very satisfied” with their college experience.

“We believe that the findings provide a powerful argument that higher education should attend more to students’ spiritual development,” stated co-author Alexander Astin. “Spiritual development is not only an important part of the college experience in its own right, but also promotes other positive outcomes of college.”

The seven-year research study examined how students’ religious and spiritual views change during the college years and the role that college plays in facilitating the development of their spiritual and religious qualities. The study surveyed 112,000 freshmen as they enrolled in 236 colleges and universities and then followed up with 14,527 of these students as they completed their junior year at 136 colleges.

Other findings include:

  • Religious engagement among students declines somewhat during college, but their spirituality shows substantial growth. Students become more caring, more tolerant and more connected with others as well as more actively engaged in a spiritual quest.
  • College activities contribute to students’ spiritual growth. Some of these–study abroad, interdisciplinary studies, interracial interaction, and service learning–appear to be effective because they expose students to new and diverse people, cultures and ideas.
  • Spiritual development is enhanced if students engage in “inner work” through activities such as meditation or self-reflection, or if their professors actively encourage them to explore questions of meaning and purpose. Spiritual development is impeded when students engage in activities that distract them from campus life opportunities–activities such as watching television and playing video games.
  • Spiritual qualities showing increases during college include: spiritual quest, equanimity, ethic of caring and ecumenical worldview.
  • Faculty effects on students’ spiritual development include: direct encouragement, reflective writing and journaling, collaborative group projects and contemplative practices in class.
  • Majors that positively affect spiritual development include: fine arts, health professions, biological sciences and social sciences. Majors that negatively affect spiritual development include: engineering, mathematics, physical science and other technical fields.
  • Other positive influences on spiritual growth include: meditation/contemplation, service learning, charitable giving, interdisciplinary courses, study abroad programs, interracial interaction, leadership training and student organizations.
  • Negative influences on spiritual growth include: watching TV, playing video games and frequent drinking/partying.

The seven-year study detailed in Cultivating the Spirit was funded through two generous grants from the John Templeton Foundation. The surveys were conducted as part of the Higher Education Research Institute’s Cooperative Institutional Research Program, the nation’s oldest and largest study of higher education.

You can find the Book, Cultivating the Spirit: How College Can Enhance Students’ Inner Lives, on Amazon.

For more information visit Spirituality in Higher Education, and the Cultivating the Spirit website.