Why do parents and teachers encourage teens to go to college?

Question

I am 19, and I graduated at 17. I had a 4.0 in my last 2 years, but in my first 2 years in high school i hardly passed any classes. I hated high school. I considered killing myself many times because of it. And me and my buddys ditched school like every day. I believe I missed 82 days my first year. It wasn't that I couldn't do the work, it was that I hated getting up and sitting at school for 6 hours listening to teachers yell at kids because they didn't do what they told them. And I always felt smarter than my teachers. So I went to homeschooling behind 65 credits and ended up graduating 6 months early. And my mom and teacher recomended community college. I signed up, paid for everything, and the first day there I hated it! I dropped out that same week. I couldn't stand it. I would rather commit sucicide than go back to college. And I have a great job now that I didn't need school to get!

Answer 1

To perpetuate indentured servitude especially true if you need student loans.

Answer 2

okay...

Answer 3

Congratulations on your job! I'm glad that you didn't happen to need a college education to get it. And I'm sorry that you had such bad experiences with the classes you took.

As for why parents and teachers tend to push college, they do it (usually) because they genuinely care about you and want to see you succeed in life. In most cases, if a person really wants to go places in life, they do need a college education to get that great dream job. For a lot of professional careers, potential employers won't even look at you twice if you don't have the letters "BA" after your name. Now in your case, you didn't need to go to college to get a great job. Kudos to you for that! But most people don't have that kind of luck. Most people have to go through the drudgery of college (and sometimes grad school) to make it in their chosen careers.

Your mom and teacher may have recommended college to you because they thought you would have more opportunities available to you if you had a college degree. And realistically, they're right because (right or wrong) that's how our society is set up. But again, in your case, you have found your niche in life without having to jump through a bunch of hoops.

I'd say, just enjoy your life as it is now, but realize that your mom and teacher weren't trying to make your life miserable. They were just recommending what they thought was best for you. Their recommendations didn't turn out to be what was best for you, but they did have your best interests at heart.