Pick your plastic car: red, orange or green? Grab your gender: pink or blue. Choose which path to go down: college or career? Would you like auto insurance with that?
The reality of life is similar to Hasbro’s game of Life in that both contain college loans, picking out houses and paying taxes. Childhood games pester people to model the lives chosen by the luck of the draw. The only goals in life include the highest salary possible, favorable stocks, and paid-off loans.
Life after high school poses many questions to be answered of graduating students, yet planning for students usually begins in the earlier years of high school. PSAT and PLAN tests serve as flags to help start the race of mail trucks across the nation.
Advertisements from colleges pile up in mailboxes and inboxes across the United States, all designed to sell the college with a claim as the “right” school for students seeking higher education.
There are several different options within schools, such as sizes of classrooms, private versus public, choice of areas of study, extracurricular activities and the price tag. All of these factors make choosing the perfect school seem difficult and time consuming.
College is the path most traveled. According to Jeff McGuire, who wrote an article posted on www.collegeview.com, college students find more opportunities than those with only a high school diploma. Plus, with the economy taking jobs from several workers, he said it is important for students to be as highly qualified as possible.
As opposed to generations of the past, high school graduates today are unable to obtain the number of high-paying jobs that were once available,” McGuire said in his article. “The United States has been transformed from a manufacturing-based economy to an economy based on knowledge, and the importance of a college education today can be compared to that of a high school education forty years ago. It serves as the gateway to better options and more opportunity.”
He also said that education after high school allows for opportunities to read books and listen to lectures of people in the top of their field.
“This stimulation encourages students to think, ask questions, and explore new ideas, which allows for additional growth and development and provides college graduates with an edge in the job market over those who have not experienced a higher education,” McGuire said.
The job market and the economy are steeply declining. As they continue, the price of college increases.
However, the number of financial aid options is increasing as well, according to McGuire’s article.
McGuire also said that the price tag should not be the only factor when deciding upon a school.
“Although the colleges and universities of today carry a heavy price tag, it is of great importance not to let that discourage you from obtaining a college education,” he said.
The heavy price tag didn’t stop several graduates from going to college.
According to guidance counselor Mrs. Margie Blake, about 78 percent of the class of 2008 went on to pursue a four-year degree, and 10 percent went on to a two-year degree.
She added that around 2.3 percent of students went on to a technical/vocational school, and the same number of people went into employment with plans of going back to college when the time was right. For those going to selective schools, Blake advises taking Advanced Placement courses.
“For Ivy League, you should have a boatload,” she said. “That’s what the competition is.”
However, she also said that students should only take the highest courses when it is sensible.
“Go for the ones that have practical meaning, or you like them,” she said.
Blake said that Hoover provides several options for college-oriented students.
“We have a lot of opportunities for students to go to college,” Blake said.
Some students traverse the slightly less beaten path: the left turn towards career.
“For some, college is not right,” Blake said.
These students have chosen the same path that Bill Gates, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison and “entertainment mogul” David Geffen took, according to writer Anthony Balderrama in his article “25 Highest-Paying Jobs — No College Degree Required” on www.careerbuilder.com.
He disagrees with McGuire, and said that college may not be important in the career field.
“The belief that you need a college education to have a well-paying job is quickly fading,” Balderrama said. “As four-year degree definitely has its benefits in this business world, but it’s not the only path to a successful career.”
Some of the highest-paying jobs that don’t require four-year degrees along with their average salaries, according to the article, include air traffic controller, $102,030; funeral director, $79,517; operations manager, $77,839; industrial production manager, $73,000; and transportation manager, $72,662.
The article also said that the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics showed eight of ten of the fastest growing occupations through 2014 aren’t requiring schooling beyond a Bachelor’s degree.
“And these jobs, which include health technology, plumbing, firefighting and automotive repair, are less vulnerable to outsourcing,” Balderrama said. “After all, if a fire breaks out, you need the fire department to be a few blocks away, not halfway around the world.”
Kate Lorenz, in her article “Does a college Degree Really Count?” on the same website, does not agree with Balderrama.
“While in the past, a college degree may have been optional, these days it seems to have become the minimum requirement for getting a good job and succeeding in the workforce,” she said.
Some students still choose another route, the military life.
One of these students is John Ruth, who will be leaving for the Air Force in July.
As he will be enlisting, and not going through the ROTC (Reserved Officers’ Training Corps) program, he will not attend college right after high school. It does not mean fighting as a soldier on the front lines of war.
Ruth said that he hopes he will not see combat.
“If I can avoid being shot at, that’d be good,” he said.
Ruth said the Air Force was the right option for him, because he would gain the experience he wouldn’t be able to get from college.
“The Air Force gives you experience,” Ruth said. “That’s hard to get nowadays.”
The military is not all about soldiers and weaponry, he said. The Air Force especially gives more options than simply becoming a soldier, which he said is the mentality people are brought up with.
“It’s more education-based,” Ruth said. “The Air Force is basically a bunch of engineers.”
With the current economy, Ruth said that the military was definitely an option to consider.
“There are a lot of benefits,” he said. “Free college is pretty amazing.”
Some benefits include the respect earned by serving one’s country.
“It will be nice to have the experience and be highly respected,” Ruth said. “You went through a different type of lifestyle.”
Mr. Brian Chimera, a parent of children in Greentown and North Canton Middle School, is a retired Air Force officer.
He also agreed that, with the state of the economy right now, the military is a guaranteed job.
“The military is recession-proof,” Chimera said. “You’ll always need the military, whether deployed overseas or not.”
Ruth will not be regretting loans owed for a college education.
“College is just too expensive now,” he said. “It’s not meant for everybody.”
Chimera said that the military is also not for everyone.
“It’s more than playing dress-up and earning benefits others have earned for you,” Chimera said.
However, he said it was very rewarding.
“I would do it again,” Chimera said. “I enjoy doing it. I’m proud of my service; proud of my role in keeping America safe.”
Keeping the country safe gives children the safety to play outside sports and inside board games.
Hasbro’s game of Life highlights one important point: while careers and college degrees (and the military) are a large portion of our lives, there is much more. Getting married and picking out a house are other stops along the way. Remember, there are always the neon blue squares available to change your career.
College and career may be the start of our adult lives, but they are not the only components, according to Blake.
“There is a tremendous amount of growth that goes on that doesn’t have to do with books,” she said. “We have to allow for that.”