College bound?

There's a lot of talk going on about whether a college degree is worth the money that a student and his family has to cough up. With the economy where it is and the rising costs of tuition many high school grads are picking the military, labor jobs or vocational training as a viable option to the 4-year college program.

The problem is that we don't have the high paying labor/skill jobs at the level that we used to. So, parents are forcing their kids to college. As a result, we have kids getting degrees at a record high and no jobs.

So how does this apply to Paxton (and our little fetus)? My wife and I were talking about this topic last night. Would we force Paxton to go to college if it didn't seem like a good fit for him?

Student loan debt is above one trillion dollars and now exceeds credit card debt. My student loan payment consumes more than 10% of my income. I went to an affordable school but I was forced to make a career decision at 18 years old. So I took a lot of classes before I found my way. Others are pressured by their parents to do things in college they don't want to do like med school. So they end up spending two years and thousands in student loans just to change or drop out.

I believe that happiness in life is all about finding what you love to do and finding a way to make a living at it. Some of us are cursed and we love art, music or literature. We're told that those are just hobbies because we can't make a lot of money in it. It might be harder to make the money you need to live in certain areas but that doesn't mean we should give up. It's about being creative. There's a Zen saying about true happiness coming when work and your personal life are blended together because you're happy in both.

Do I want Paxton to be a doctor? Maybe. Do I want him to be a skilled auto painter or plumber? Maybe. I want Paxton to find what makes him happy and to support his family and himself doing it. That may mean the traditional college route out of high school, but it may not. You might think it's too early to be talking about stuff like this when he's only two. I disagree. The decisions that he makes for himself at the age of 18 are based on the philosophy he was brought up on. I won't tell him what he should do at that time but I will bring him up in such a way that he makes decisions that are right for him and not me.