Should You Go to College?

Howdy, boys...  HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Isaac... I look forward to meeting you one day.

Today I wanted to encourage all of you boys to begin thinking about what you want to do when you grow up. Don't let someone push you into something THEY think would be right for you. You need to follow your heart and do something that you love. I know that several years ago when I was still allowed to talk to Ethan and Caleb, Ethan LOVED working with his hands and building things. If that is still true I would tell Ethan to continue down that road and become the very best builder that there is anywhere!

I know if I could turn back the clock, I wouldn't have gone to college... knowing what I know now, I'd go down to the Tennessee River, hire on to one of the river tugboats that push barges up and down the river and work my way up to becoming the captain of one. Here is a video of what a river tugboat looks like.


I don't want to discourage you from going to college... there are some professions like your Mommy becoming a registered nurse that require a college education... but things are changing and in my opinion not going to college should be considered. If you do decide to go the college route, please don't go into debt to pay for it. Debt is a horrible thing and should be avoided at all costs. "The borrower is the slave of the lender." Paying off college debt can take years and can actually be impossible if you choose a career that requires a degree but doesn't pay much when you finish your schooling.

Becoming an expert at whatever you love can cost nothing and provide you with an excellent opportunity to make lots of money. There is a story about a company that had a machine that broke down and they had to get it fixed or they would lose hundreds of thousands of dollars everyday. They called a fellow who was known to be the world's expert on this particular machine to help them locate the problem. When the expert arrived, he listened to the clank-clank-clank of the machine. After about a minute he walked over to the machine, took out a black magic marker and drew an "X" on the side of the machine. "You've got to change the bearing right behind that "X" and it will run just fine again... that will be $20,000 please." "How can you justify charging $20,000 you have only been here for 5 minutes? Please break down your charges for us." "Well, drawing the "X" was $5... knowing where to draw the "X" was $19,995." He was an expert and commanded expert fees for his knowledge. Become the very best at whatever you love doing and you'll make lots of money.

Here are some videos that discuss some of the downfalls of attending college. Remember, some professions require a college education but many things don't and you would be better off becoming that expert I talked about. I have read that if you devote just an hour a day learning something about your chosen profession, in 5 years you'll be an expert.

I love you boys,
Granddaddy

Tell Your Children Not to Go to College