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College is a waste of time and money for kids

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51–60 of 72 posts

Re: College is a waste of time and money for kids

#51

I was with him right until he say not to travel. Travel is the single biggest step in developing a proper perspective of life in this world, and what part you'll choose to play in the future. At 25, you can tell if someone has traveled or not by having a 15 minute conversation with them. The traveled ones are always much more rational in thought, and open in mind, and aware of the possibilities. Non traveled folk ten…

Who says travel says also learning other languages and cultures: get used to changing frame and realizing your own cultural assumptions in human communication.

The horrible problem here is that unless one has lived abroad for a while in a country with a different language and culture than one's own, there's no way a person can see value in it. But if you don't have that experience, you will always drag behind those who do.

Re: College is a waste of time and money for kids

#52
post #7

I've found that college is great for the 'pluggers' in life. Those kids you remember from high school who asked question after boring question and spent hours on their home work while you spent class time hacking your graphing calculator and spent study hall exploring your high school's network. Sure they got better grades than you, but instead of an A on your test you got a B- and worked 10x less to get it. College…

Believe it or not, you can learn, get decent grades, party and get laid, and have scholarhips all at the same time. Those people that skip this, are soreley missing a great experience of their life. Remember, work will be there for the rest of your life. Don't just rush into it. From 24 to 64, that's 40 years or working for most people. you can start your startup just as well as 25, as you could at 20, but probably y…

I'll agree with the not rushing into work part. But I don't agree that you need to waste 4 years of your life on college. If you find it's not worth it for you: LEAVE. 4 years is a lot of time to waste, especially during your 20s.

Re: College is a waste of time and money for kids

#53

I was with him right until he say not to travel. Travel is the single biggest step in developing a proper perspective of life in this world, and what part you'll choose to play in the future. At 25, you can tell if someone has traveled or not by having a 15 minute conversation with them. The traveled ones are always much more rational in thought, and open in mind, and aware of the possibilities. Non traveled folk ten…

Problem is, travel often seems so passive to me. Maybe I could get something out of it by blogging about my experience, but other than that? I already have a kind of feeling that the world is a weird and wonderful place. I don't really take western lifestyle for granted. There are plenty of problems to be solved where I live - what do I really gain from visiting some poor weirdo countries, except for some unpleasant diseases?

Re: College is a waste of time and money for kids

#54
post #13

Look. There is no "right" or "wrong" way to live. People need to stop focusing on the black and white and become aware of the greyscale.

From personal experience, you can't get hired to a news paper or magazine unless you've been published. Yet going to college or university doesn't get you published, teaches you to write in a way editors don't like, and they make you arrogant.

I got a job at 16 by sending out letters, and after I'd learnt the editors style he was saying I was the best writer there and amazed at my age. Right now, if reviewing hadn't destroyed my love for video games and movies, I have little doubt I could have been at a news paper for two years, and I'm only twenty. Essentially I could have been working as a writer for the entire time I "should" have been in university learning "journalism".

Re: College is a waste of time and money for kids

#58

I was with him right until he say not to travel. Travel is the single biggest step in developing a proper perspective of life in this world, and what part you'll choose to play in the future. At 25, you can tell if someone has traveled or not by having a 15 minute conversation with them. The traveled ones are always much more rational in thought, and open in mind, and aware of the possibilities. Non traveled folk ten…

People are irrational because of prejudices. The best way to overcome prejudices is to live in a culture with a significantly different view of the world than your own. Plus, you get to go a step further and learn there are reasons behind prejudices, instead of just rejecting a belief and its connotations because the believer is prejudiced.

So, I think living in different parts of the world is only indirectly useful. The important thing is to live in a new environment among people with a different culture.

Re: College is a waste of time and money for kids

#59

College gives kids thousands of other kids to hang out with, at a critical point in their lives when they are just entering into adulthood. College gives kids a chance to create their own social identity, as seen through the eyes of their peers, rather than their parents. If you are a social recluse, and spend most of your college years hiding behind your computer screen, then yeah, you might as well not go. If you r…

>I learnt some really important life lessons in college, most of them outside of class.

What makes you think you would not have learned the same things (or equally valuable things) if you did not go to college, but did stop living with your parents?

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