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10 things that are less expensive and just as effective as college
I remember being very angry with my mother as I applied for my college loan. I was angry as she “tut-tutted” over the “very high” interest rates (I thought I was lucky with a 6.5%), but mainly I was angry at her questioning of a process that I had come to believe was “the way”.
“The Way” is what I will define as society’s violent attempt to corral our culture into a pre-determined group of traits or skills or lifestyles that society has deemed “The Way”.
“The Way” that I’ll be attacking today is our blind obedience towards “the path to success”. I’m talking about the path to success that’s promised (at least it appeared so to me) in your traditional American education. This, to me, is the belief that you must attend college to be successful. (I will define success as above-average financial compensation and relative life security.)
I attended a private “elite college preparatory academy”, grades pre-K through 12th, where AP & honors classes ruled and you were *expected* to apply to at least one Ivy. Our school paid for a full press tour for the first student to receive a perfect SAT score, and would comp (read: mandate into taking) high performing students entrance fees to exams to keep our average…