Have you ever thought about why you're in college? Not in the sense that you're here on scholarship or loan, in the sense that is this what you've always wanted? Right at high school graduation, the world is yours for the taking. Students these days have thousands of options available to them, whether it be taking courses online or on campus, serving our country or serving justice. The possibilities are endless.
While having a conversation with one of my best childhood friends, we'll call him Tim, it made me realize how much two people can start at basically the same place and end up in such different situations. Not in the sense that one is more well-off than the other, the conversation I had made me realize once again how different life is for everyone. They say that not going to college is a mistake, but isn't going to college and purposefully putting yourself in debt a mistake as well? To each his own, I suppose.
Tim and I have been friends since what seems like forever. We both lived in the same neighborhood on the same road as at least 20 other kids our age (welcome to the world of small towns in Pa.). It was always fun hanging out with everyone, but Tim and I seemed to hang out the most. As the years passed, we made memories that would last a lifetime, and our futures, for the most part, seemed identical.
With the onset of high school, things really started changing. What started as a parallel friendship soon turned into two roads diverging in a yellow wood. Tim's mother passed away, and he was ultimately left on his own for long parts of the day while his father worked. Friends came and went, grades rose and fell and interest in continuing education fell. Tim found a knack for fixing automobiles, computers and pretty much anything that was hands-on and complicated.
His junior year, Tim dropped out of high-school.
While I spent my days reading books and writing essays, Tim spent his days reading new ways to reprogram computers and writing about parts he needed for his lawnmower. Taking online courses to supplement his educational requirements, Tim dove into his passion for modern technology and its inner workings.
While we kept in touch, sometimes months pass before my phone screen would light up saying I had a message from him. In our most recent chat, we talked about life. Tim now works at a factory as a line assemblyman, putting together objects that come his way. With hopes of getting a new job (or possibly joining the Military), he spoke of his project to fix a truck to good-as-new condition. We also discussed our old friends, including two close ones who are now in the Air Force and the Army.
After our conversation ended, it really hit me how much life can change depending on what you make of it. While I attend a liberal arts college with other liberal arts college majors, there are hundreds if not thousands of other possibilities for life paths. Lawyers, construction workers, hospital doctors, auto mechanics, waiters and waitresses, actors and actresses: they all start as young children with a dream. Where we take it is up to us.
In the end, my conversation with Tim really opened my eyes once again to everyone's story. I don't know it, only they do. People can do what they love and love what they do. In summary, have you ever thought about why you're in college? Have you ever thought about why people work in factories? Have you ever thought about why a judge has become a judge? The possibilities are endless.
