interrogating the high school to college to career pipeline
When I was young, I struggled to answer the question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” It seemed like everyone else knew exactly what they wanted to become, but not me. And to this day I still don’t have a simple answer to that question. Let’s talk about it!
My boomer parents and society at large instilled in me the importance of education from a very young age. There was no questioning it (my parents weren’t big on open, honest communication)- I was going to college. I had a fairly basic, suburban upbringing where I was largely sheltered under the guise of “safety.” So, I stumbled headfirst into the traditional pipeline- high school grad to college to unpaid internship to a full-time career. As someone who found their confidence and independence in my mid-20s, I genuinely wasn’t aware of any other options but the traditional pipeline. This is a privileged position to be in, and I’m grateful for the education. But I can’t help but wonder if this truly was the best path for me.
I had a high school guidance counselor and a few teachers that I liked. But, I never had a mentor or anyone who asked me the right questions or presented me with alternative options to the traditional pipeline. While I did well in school, I didn’t enjoy it. I would eventually come to understand I liked learning new things, but not in the way that traditional education presented it. Waking up early was draining and not conducive to learning, and the social requirements of school triggered and worsened my anxiety.
At the time, I didn’t know anyone who was choosing a different path. Everyone I knew was applying to college. Several friends of mine were even applying for specific programs that would lead to defined career paths such as healthcare, law, and education. I was someone who enjoyed a lot of different things. I was a multi-hyphenate. I didn’t have one thing I was super passionate about. I liked writing, business, leadership, dance, and all forms of entertainment and pop culture. These things didn’t exactly add up to a career path. A lot of people said to me, “You’ll figure it out once you’re in college.” Spoiler alert: I didn’t.
I applied to a small handful of colleges and decided on NYU mainly because I wanted to escape my parent's house and live in NYC. I was admitted to the Gallatin School of Individualized Study (aka the school for kids who have zero clue what to pursue or the school for gay misfits as I affectionately call it). At this particular school, I was able to design my own plan of study (in addition to completing the incredibly boring required core curriculum, of course). This was both exciting and daunting. How was I to select my courses? Should I have a bigger-picture goal or career path in mind? Again, there wasn’t any guidance given on this part.
What I soon found out was that the easiest way to approach this was to pick courses on subjects that I was already inherently good at. There was a ton of work assigned and pressure to get good grades so you could ultimately land an unpaid, highly competitive internship. Yikes. There was no incentive to try new things because of the fear of failure. There was no encouragement to experiment. You had to lean into your strengths to survive. So, while they tell you that college is the time to freely explore and discover what you want to do with your life, that wasn’t the reality that I experienced.
Looking back, I wish I had taken a year or two post-high school to continue working part-time, travel, and take some low-pressure exploratory courses rather than jumping right into college. I never got to explore my options. I didn’t have time to think about what I genuinely wanted and what I valued. Without knowing those things, how can you select a career path? For me, college felt like a scam. I had some great life experiences as a result of living in NYC, but the cost of the education far exceeded the value I got out of it.
Currently, with the cost of higher education skyrocketing in an absurd way, we are seeing more folks talking about and embracing alternatives such as trade schools, technical certification programs, online courses, volunteering, creative pathways, working, and entrepreneurship. For someone who has known what they’ve wanted to do since they were young or someone whose desired career requires higher education- it makes sense. For the rest of us- it’s time we rethink college as the default and start exploring alternatives to get to know ourselves, our needs, and our values first.
