200,000 is overly optimistic for most positions in the trades. 100,000 a year is quite attainable. Four year colleges had a good run, but they became overpriced and decided, most of them, to specialize in indoctrination rather than education. Some colleges will exist but they will increasingly become what they were over a century ago: finishing schools for the rich and places of study for the very few serious scholars.
The Times Are Changing
- Donald R. McClarey
Donald R. McClarey
Cradle Catholic. Active in the pro-life movement since 1973. Father of three, one in Heaven, and happily married for 43 years. Small town lawyer and amateur historian. Former president of the board of directors of the local crisis pregnancy center for a decade.
I never went to college (thank God). I have had a very lucrative and successful career in the commercial nuclear power industry, thanks to the US Nuclear Navy and God’s mercies. This past week I taught a training class full of college degreed engineers, some with PhDs. They all said the class was one of the best which they had ever attended. The Vice President of my department has said more than once that no one knows the regulations and industry standards with the accompanying experience as an actual electronics technician in my discipline of digital I&C and cyber security as well as I. Telling the truth isn’t bragging.
Go Navy!
Go Nuclear!
Forget about college!
“This past week I taught a training class full of college degreed engineers, some with PhDs. They all said the class was one of the best which they had ever attended.”
That’s because your knowledge is practically gained not theoretically gained. That makes it easy to apply your knowledge. The auto industry is full of people like you, like my ex son-in-law. I still miss that guy.
There is also some confusion by the public regarding charges for some of these services. The money paid for a plumbing job also pays the company’s expenses. For individual sole proprietors it includes overhead expenses. Finally, a $200 K income is going to include some overtime and inconvenient hours.
True.
Any job pursued should first, or at least midway, involve actual exposure to the job. Helps to ensure that the destination is actually where you ought to go.
Remembering that a job is “someplace you would not go unless paid” is useful too!
I wanted to be an electrician. I had a knack for it. As a kid, I knew how to replace a wall outlet. I have installed ceiling fans, light fixtures, wall.switches and outlets and replaced plugs on extension cords.
Dad wanted me to go to college. I became an accountant I will soon be done being an accountant, by the end of 2033.
I told my youngest son that he could choose what he wants to be and I would support him. He wants to be an electrician. It helps that my Uncle is an electrician and I.learned a few things from him…and I showed my son how to use power tools and let him work with them.