I can't recall if I have shared this particular thing about myself with all of you, but I didn't go to college. There. I said it! Why is that so difficult to say sometimes?
My senior year of high school was pretty much normal. I made decent grades. They could have been better, but they could have been a lot worse. I would have taken any English class over Math any day! My friends were busy on the weekends filling out scholarships and trying to figure out which college best fit their interest. I tried to jump on the band wagon with them. Really I did, but it just didn't appeal to me. I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life at the time. I considered going to beauty school because I have always been obsessed with hair and make up. I also thought about attending a community college and obtaining a degree in business. The community college sounded a bit more promising for me because I didn't want to be away from home. I know! What senior doesn't like to be away from home for more than one night? This girl! Even church camp made me extremely home sick! My parents never once forced me to go to college. My mom always said, "Why force her to go when she doesn't want to? She may just end up coming back home."
I had a job as a receptionist at a salon in our small town and I absolutely loved it! Hence my previous statement about going to beauty school. I was perfectly content working there and decided to stay there until the next opportunity came knocking at my door...which I was hoping wasn't any time soon. Graduation day came and went and, honestly, I couldn't wait for it to be over. I was ready to move on!
The summer ended and most of my classmates went off to college and I was still in our little ole town working at the salon. I was perfectly fine with it. Then that opportunity came knocking at my door. The one I was secretly hoping wouldn't come. Thanks to a friend I was offered a job at a medical provider's office in the big city of Indianapolis. In October of 2003 I began working as a Customer Service Representative taking orders from doctor's offices and hospitals. If a patient was released and needed some type of medical equipment such as, oxygen, walkers, wheelchairs, etc. they called us. I made sure the patient qualified per insurance guidelines and then I verified that they actually had medical insurance. I spent countless hours on the phone with insurance companies, which I'm now glad that I did because I actually understand insurance!
So, here I was 18 and driving to Indy every day for an 8-5 job making money that seemed like a lot to a girl fresh out of school. Plus, I had medical benefits! I will admit, the first few weeks were extremely difficult and I didn't know if I was ready to be thrown out in to the real world, but I stuck it out and I am so glad I did.
I had B in 2005 (Did I mention I graduated in '03, got married in '04, and had a baby in '05? More on that later.) The whole "not going to college thing" never once bothered me until I went to preregister before delivering B. A question on one of the forms was, "What was the highest level of school completed by the patient?" I had to answer 12th grade...high school. Now, I know this is probably just for statistic purposes and hopefully the doctors and nurses didn't look down on me because I didn't go to college, but why does that matter? Is my ability to take care of this baby going to be less than someone who does have a college education? Why does society make us feel like if we don't go to college, then we are less of a person?
B will occasionally bring up college every now and then. Thanks to Toy Story 3 for introducing that to her:) She is already saying that she wants to live at home forever. Now, I for one, hope that she doesn't live at home forever. B is a lot like me and won't stay anywhere over night unless it is at a family member's house or her best friend's so the thought of going away for a week or two at a time completely baffles her. We try to explain that as smart and outgoing as she is, she will probably change her mind and decide to go to college and will love it...maybe a little too much;), but that's hard for me to say because I never had the college life experience and Brad went for about 2 years then came back home to farm because that's where his heart was.
I can't look into the future and, believe me, sometimes I wish I could, but right now I know that I am pretty content with my life even though I don't have that college degree. I may decide I need to go back to school someday, but right now I'm glad my parents didn't force me to go because I might not be where I am today!
My senior year of high school was pretty much normal. I made decent grades. They could have been better, but they could have been a lot worse. I would have taken any English class over Math any day! My friends were busy on the weekends filling out scholarships and trying to figure out which college best fit their interest. I tried to jump on the band wagon with them. Really I did, but it just didn't appeal to me. I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life at the time. I considered going to beauty school because I have always been obsessed with hair and make up. I also thought about attending a community college and obtaining a degree in business. The community college sounded a bit more promising for me because I didn't want to be away from home. I know! What senior doesn't like to be away from home for more than one night? This girl! Even church camp made me extremely home sick! My parents never once forced me to go to college. My mom always said, "Why force her to go when she doesn't want to? She may just end up coming back home."
I had a job as a receptionist at a salon in our small town and I absolutely loved it! Hence my previous statement about going to beauty school. I was perfectly content working there and decided to stay there until the next opportunity came knocking at my door...which I was hoping wasn't any time soon. Graduation day came and went and, honestly, I couldn't wait for it to be over. I was ready to move on!
The summer ended and most of my classmates went off to college and I was still in our little ole town working at the salon. I was perfectly fine with it. Then that opportunity came knocking at my door. The one I was secretly hoping wouldn't come. Thanks to a friend I was offered a job at a medical provider's office in the big city of Indianapolis. In October of 2003 I began working as a Customer Service Representative taking orders from doctor's offices and hospitals. If a patient was released and needed some type of medical equipment such as, oxygen, walkers, wheelchairs, etc. they called us. I made sure the patient qualified per insurance guidelines and then I verified that they actually had medical insurance. I spent countless hours on the phone with insurance companies, which I'm now glad that I did because I actually understand insurance!
So, here I was 18 and driving to Indy every day for an 8-5 job making money that seemed like a lot to a girl fresh out of school. Plus, I had medical benefits! I will admit, the first few weeks were extremely difficult and I didn't know if I was ready to be thrown out in to the real world, but I stuck it out and I am so glad I did.
I had B in 2005 (Did I mention I graduated in '03, got married in '04, and had a baby in '05? More on that later.) The whole "not going to college thing" never once bothered me until I went to preregister before delivering B. A question on one of the forms was, "What was the highest level of school completed by the patient?" I had to answer 12th grade...high school. Now, I know this is probably just for statistic purposes and hopefully the doctors and nurses didn't look down on me because I didn't go to college, but why does that matter? Is my ability to take care of this baby going to be less than someone who does have a college education? Why does society make us feel like if we don't go to college, then we are less of a person?
B will occasionally bring up college every now and then. Thanks to Toy Story 3 for introducing that to her:) She is already saying that she wants to live at home forever. Now, I for one, hope that she doesn't live at home forever. B is a lot like me and won't stay anywhere over night unless it is at a family member's house or her best friend's so the thought of going away for a week or two at a time completely baffles her. We try to explain that as smart and outgoing as she is, she will probably change her mind and decide to go to college and will love it...maybe a little too much;), but that's hard for me to say because I never had the college life experience and Brad went for about 2 years then came back home to farm because that's where his heart was.
I can't look into the future and, believe me, sometimes I wish I could, but right now I know that I am pretty content with my life even though I don't have that college degree. I may decide I need to go back to school someday, but right now I'm glad my parents didn't force me to go because I might not be where I am today!
No college degree here either and I wouldn't change anything about my life!!! LOVE YOU just the way you are!
ReplyDeleteEverything happens for a reason, Sarah. God has a plan for all of us. Just because you chose a path that was different from most doesn't mean it was the wrong one. You did what you felt was best for you at the time. Life doesn't come with an instruction manual stating that college comes before starting a family if ever, and that's the beauty of it! I agree that people without college degrees should not be categorized. You have plenty of time to go back to college once your kids are raised if you decided that's what's best for you. If not, as long you're happy and your family is happy that's all that matters! Love, Jen <3
ReplyDeleteI am a big believer in doing what's right for you. I ended up with a degree that totally has NOTHING to do with what I do today and is totally worthless without the masters degree that goes with it. Did I mention I walked away from a fully paid for master's program because I didn't want to be what I had just spent 4 years trying to learn to be? I would ten times rather hang out with folks who have the courage to be who they are than finding out what box they check. I think you rock woman and totally agree with Jen.
ReplyDeleteWell, Cris and Jent just about covered it. As a teacher for 18 years, I HATED that college seemed to be a requirement for each and every kid after graduation from high school. 60 % of my seniors were ready to go, 20% had not clue what they were going to do, and the other 20% were VERY happy with their high school diploma. I've chatted with students on Facebook about their choice to go back to schooling of some kind ONCE they finally figured out what they wanted to do, and they ROCKED their grades because it meant something to them finally. I always told them, "At the end of the day, the only one who has to live with the decisions you make is YOU!" You made the choice to listen to your heart and do what was bet for you, and you had parents who respected that choice. Sounds like a perfect situation all the way around. It's not what you have, but what you do with what you have. YOU ROCK!
ReplyDeletecollege is not for everyone....I don't understand why there is so much pressure for everyone to go...I was happy with my high school diploma...I went to Jr. college for one semester...just wasn't for me...You have a great family...that is a degree all of it's own...
ReplyDelete