Hello everyone:

Sometimes I hear about young people who chose to drop out of college or not go in the first place. In fact, maybe they have even decided that a high school diploma isn’t worth the effort. They say that they’ll be able to get a good job without a diploma.

While I would be one of the first to say that not everyone is meant to be in traditional college and that a trade school might be the best choice for some folks, I will not agree that a high school diploma is unneeded.

Please think about this for a while. What kind of house will you live in without an education? What kind of car will you drive? What type of vacation will you be able to afford? What clothes will you be able to purchase?

Friends, if you are working at a fast food joint making even $10 an hour, you won’t have the home of your dreams- you’ll most likely never be able to leave home. Your car will be two tone- rust and whatever the original color was. Your vacations will be limited to going to see the in-laws, if they pay for it and if you are able to get married. You’ll buy your clothes at Goodwill instead of Nordstrom. Is that really the future you want?

So, you might say “Bill Gates didn’t graduate from college.” You would be right. Are you the next Bill Gates? Probably not.

I know someone right now who has the opportunity to get a free college education. This individual is thinking about dropping out of high school. Seriously?

The U.S. Census Bureau statistics say that someone with a college education will make a total of a million dollars more than someone who doesn’t have anything but a high school diploma, when you look at the average working lifespan of 40 years. That’s 40 years with a college degree that brings in a million dollars more. I’m not gifted in math, but the numbers look pretty good to me! Please give your future some serious thought!

Best,

Dr. Sheri