A $35,000 Experiment

                           

A girl from China once asked me, "Will I still be successful in life if I change my major or if I don't end up doing what I studied for in school?"  I immediately began thinking hard about this question. The initial reaction in my head was frustration. This is what lead me to write this post so I must be very honest with you here because this hits very close to home for me as well as so many others. Please be my guest and take a seat at the table as we discuss the $35,000 experiment.

How many 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, or even 23 year olds have any idea of who they are and what their purpose is in this life? Don't worry, I'll wait...

This leads me to my next question. Why do these young adults who don't have any idea of who they are as a person or what their purpose is in life feel forced to spend tons of money to go figure this out? Is that amount of money and time really worth it just to end up doing something you don't really want to do?

You see, the issue I have with it is that the pressure of society tells us that we have to follow a set path which starts with going to college. Our parents expect us to graduate high school, go to college and finish within a reasonable amount of time, then find a full-time job that uses our degree so that we can pay off the loan debt and be independent. There's a lot of pressure to live up to these expectations, if you don't, you might be viewed as a failure. 

                                               

I was afraid

When the girl from China asked me if she'd be successful if she changed her major, I was frustrated that she felt that way, especially because I've been there before. Honestly, I thought about going to music engineering school because  staying around anything music related was what I thought was going to help me find purpose. Ultimately, I didn't go because I was too afraid of what my parents would say. Music was never presented as a legitimate way to make a living. Before going to college, I had no concrete idea of what I wanted to do. Actually, I ended up switching between 3 different majors. I remember at orientation, they told us to pick a major and I chose one just because. I started out with Information Technology but quickly became uninterested with the heavy analytical approach to solving problems. Sophomore year, I switched to Logistics which was cool but I finally settled on Integrative Studies which combined Logistics, History and Music without all of the mandatory math classes. There were times when I wondered if I needed to go to school to be a success. Am I even going to need or use the degree?  There's just so much uncertainty involved, I understand how stuck someone can feel when faced with major life decisions at just 18 years old. 

This $35,000 experiment which was supposed to secure my future, ended up a farce. Everything happens for a reason though. A lot of the things that I've realized about myself, I learned when I was going to college. I knew what I wanted to do in my junior year of college but was discouraged by some people because being a music producer isn't seen as "practical." Not to say that I couldn't have learned those things another way without going into debt, but it is what it is. In the future, I'm going to do everything I can to be sure that I don't waste another second chasing anything else other than the things that are important in my life. No more time down the drain chasing false security in the name of an experiment.

                                   

It's frustrating because I reflect on how many of my problems, especially financial ones, are a result of going to college for 4 years and graduating with everyone saying, "oh yeah, that debt? That's no big deal. You'll be able to pay that back." It's even harder when you do something other than what you actually went to school for, whether that's because of lack of interest in that career, lack of job opportunities or something else. When you're back is against the wall, you'll do anything you can to take yourself to the next level. I started to feel behind so I started a business in an industry I wasn't passionate about because I felt I needed to take that risk. I didn't get any push back from family or loved ones, they were all very supportive. But now that I'm pursuing music which is what I wanted to do all along, I haven't really gotten push back like I got when I was younger but I haven't gotten the encouragement and enthusiasm either. It's upsetting because now that I'm older I feel like my parents have taken the "ok, he's 23, he can think and choose for himself" approach. In reality, I've been wanting to pursue music since I was very young and if I would've gotten the same hands-off approach, I might've been on my path a long time ago.

It's easier to play it safe

The one thing I want people to really understand is that you have to take the time to figure out what you want to do. Be very introspective and ask yourself questions about what makes you happy. Be honest with yourself and do everything to take the steps to align your life with the things that you want to do. That's risky. The safe thing to do is to go do something that you hate for a steady paycheck. The safe thing to do is to get a "regular" job. You have to be the one to take the steps to make your life look the way you want it to. Unfortunately, many people don't come to that conclusion until they've spent thousands of dollars on something they don't want to do. Be yourself, figure it out and take the steps. Sure, we all have bills but at the end of the day, how long are you going to say, "I just gotta pay my bills." When will we stop using bills as a crutch and go for what God put on our hearts to do. When will we realize that we're not fulfilled by just being able to pay bills. You have to fight harder to do what you want to do. You have to fight for the time to start your business or follow your passion. It's the easiest thing in the world to find the time to just go clock in somewhere.  Doing what you love takes a lot of sacrifice and not everyone is willing to take that path but for those who choose to do so, their lives will be the most rewarding in that aspect. 

The notion that I have to pay $35,000 to find what  I'm supposed to do in life is absurd, especially when you spend the money and you don't end up pursuing that particular profession. Many are uncertain on their major in college and the issue with that is that they've already started accumulating debt just to figure out what they don't want to do. Loan companies don't care about how many times you change your major or if you even use your degree, they just want the money back with interest. It just doesn't make sense. School board members know that high school students all across the US have already taken classes from the core curriculum in college. I'm an advocate of getting rid of the core curriculum in college. That would allow students to have a bachelor's degree in only 2 years and cut debt in half. When you're 17 or 18, you're still very impressionable, vulnerable and gullible when your parents and schools tell you that you need to get a degree. Even though students are making the choices to go to school, they're doing so under the strong influence of the media, the universities, parents, teachers, and peers. It's not because they've taken the mask off and truly still feel the need to go to school.

                

Maybe we should all take time to stop and think about what we really want to do. Do I actually want to do this? Am I doing this because someone else wants me to? Is this even what I enjoy and am excited and passionate about? Now you're free to leave the table hopefully understanding that figuring out what you want to do in life doesn't have to cost $35,000. As a matter of fact, all it may take is some deep introspection and courage. 

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