Why I Dropped Out Of College, And DON'T Regret It!

kaylinart (75)in #life • 8 years ago

With everyone graduating right now, I can't help but remember my experience with college...
I came from a family, where Education wasn't highly regarded.
Both my parents were high school dropouts. My other brother graduated one year late. And my younger sister dropped out by the time she hit late Jr high.

So naturally, being the ambitious middle child, I wanted more for myself.
So I made a commitment to go to college.
I successfully Graduated high school. And I began school at Salt Lake Community College.

Foreign Exchange Students

Many of you know I live in the U.S. I've never even left in the country. But I have one of the coolest memories from my childhood. .. To help make ends meet, We regularly had Foreign Exchange Students from Japan stay at my house. My parents did it Because the exchange student would pay monthly rent. Which my parents used it to feed us three kids, And pay bills.

It became a normal part of my childhood almost always to have a stranger who came from Japan living at my house.

It was so fun!

We learned Japanese, We spent so much time together, And I learned so much about them.
Sometimes we'd have more than one exchange student over. Occasionally they'd bring their kids, so I had a new best friend living at my house!

Every morning I'd wake up extra early, My Mom would drop our exchange students at the college they went to.
We had students go to

Westminister
Salt Lake community College
The University Of Utah.

I just liked going, Starting at the window at the beautiful college campuses. I did this purely so I could see the cool buildings. I could have slept an extra few hours before I had to wake up to get ready for Elementary school. But I never wanted to. I wanted to see the colleges.

Sometimes they'd even have parties, Where all the exchange students from Japan would be there, And their host families, We'd play games. Eat Sushi, Amoung other Japanese foods. These typically happened right on the college campuses. I would run around the building playing, Thinking of how amazing it would be. One day I would be a college student too.

College Just seemed like the easy way to become successful

Seeing my parents struggle made me want to work harder for myself because I didn't want the same struggle. Growing up, Everyone told me that going to college would be the key to my success. So It was an easy decision.

My College Experience.

I was shocked by the price of college initially. Even though I was going to the cheapest in the State.
But like most college students I assumed I'd be fine. Because once I graduated I would make a billion dollars and student loan debt wouldn't be a problem.

Although I still decided to avoid loans as much as I could.
The first semester was harder than I expected. Biking 7 miles to and from school with a bag full of textbooks.
Not fun.

Low-Quality Classes!

The classes were your typical high school classes. And I was surprised with how much information I understood. It was like high school all over again.
Most of the work was even book work! It seemed weird to me that I was paying the instructors so much money, handing out simple assignments and a lot of reading.

It slowly started to hit me...

You Won't Get A Job!

So many college graduates I knew didn't have a job. I looked up how much I'd make if I got into my career of choice which at the time was Geology. I was disappointed when I added up the amount of average student loan debt I would have, By the time I graduated with a Masters Degree.
It would take years to pay off. And that if I gave up every penny that I was making.

I was stubborn though And ignored the facts. I truly felt that the only pathway to success is through college.

As one of my college professors stumbled into school... Drunk...
What?
He did this on a regular basis. It was clear he was an alcoholic.

I'm supposed to learn from this guy....?

Then I was required to take a class called "Math For Artists" Or something like that, For my associates.

We did basic Multiplication, Division.
It was stupid easy, And one day, Someone in the class with me asked a question on how to solve the Math problem...
My Professor went to the board and began explaining. One of the students stopped her. And told her she was doing it WRONG. And she came up with the wrong answer.
She and the student began to argue...
That's when we realized. We had a math teacher who couldn't even do the math...
She was fired a couple of weeks later...

Are they hiring Monkeys?
Again and again, These people who were ultimately going to help me get to the career of my dreams, Were total garbage.

I started to look around the college, and I started noticing something else...

"Everyone thinks the same".

We were never encouraged to be creative in our classes, Or Learn something beyond what was on Google. It seemed pointless and silly. Why go to class when I can learn through Google. Or heck, Just buy the textbook and read it on my own!?

Everything Is about taking Your money.

I felt robbed when I went to school.
They had all these ridiculous random fees all over the place. An extra 10.00 here and there. I felt like I always needed my wallet for something. I already paid tuition and books, Now all the sudden I need to pay for my ID card, A locker, and some random science fee?
It never seemed like their goal was to give me "A quality education" but instead to milk me for every dollar that my janitorial job could give me.

What ended it all.

Little did I know when I downloaded a Kindle book called "Choose Yourself." That My life would change forever. I was tired from working 2 part time jobs and going to school. But I was determined to become successful no matter what!
I already had my doubts about college, But after reading that. I quit
School.....
A year later. I quit my part-time janitorial job.
A year after that... I quit my last part time job, Becoming fully self-employed.

College was the biggest regret of my life

I had to pay back the loans I took out, While small. They were a massive burden, and I will never get the time or the money I wasted back.
There are so many great opportunities out there. Don't waste your young age on college!