What of the Road Not Taken?

Previously I shared again the abysmal college and university graduation statistics for both 4 year and 6 years of undergraduate school. The highest graduation rate I’ve seen locally, at an expensive private school, is 69% after four years of study. That is a paltry C+ grade.

Today, I’d like to step back and emphasize the transition aspects of graduation from high school.

There is an almost invisible but ironclad mantra that our students MUST have plans to attend some form of college or university. While I remain a staunch supporter of people who REALLY want to further their education, I am equally supportive of those who want and need a different path. Sadly, we don’t celebrate those different paths. We don’t take the time to see our own student’s gifts, then try to find a path that will allow them to blossom and flourish with those gifts.

And I know why.

It’s hard. It’s time-consuming. It’s scary.

And we don’t have many ideas or answers or resources for those who need to go a different way. For the most part, we parents don’t know how to research resources, or simply keep asking lots of questions.

I understand more than you may realize.

I’ve told you before about our journey. Our daughter was gifted and smitten with Illustration & Graphic Design. It was not a hobby, it was essential to her. When I realized that was her path, I HAD to do the work to find out educational opportunities for business and commercial needs. She wanted to make a living doing this. Not only did that journey take time and energy, but it also resulted in my book, ENOUGH! The College Cost Crisis.

From our journey, I realized we parents need to “see” what our students show us. YOU may have a son or daughter who buries their heads under a hood of a car. Or, they may be found in the kitchen experimenting with cooking. Please pay attention. There are fabulous careers out there with different training programs. Locally, we have a huge training program in airplane avionics, building, electronics, etc. The local STARTING salary for someone fresh out of avionics training is better than some entry-level jobs of college graduates.

We must ACTIVELY work at removing the stigma of any path other than going to 4 year University or College. Puh-lease. These days, that narrow path can cost you 20 years of loans, with our without a degree.

Parents- let’s love our kids enough to help them peer over their horizon and find the right path for them. “Keeping up with the proverbial Joneses” is dangerous to your wallet and your sanity.

Here is the last stanza of Robert Frost’s, The Road not Taken.

“I shall be telling this with a sigh,

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.”

Happy Travels!

Until Next Time

All my Best,

Bonnie Burkett