College Isn’t Always Right

To the Editor:
I give this family a lot of credit. The answer to their son’s future lay right under their noses. He didn’t need my educational counseling, nor, for that matter, any advice from the high school guidance counselor.
Their 11th grader has proverbial hands of gold. The kid keeps the family car, a 10-year-old station wagon, in running condition. All their motorized equipment, from snow blower to tractor, start up with no fuss or delay. He tinted auto glass for about five friends, as good a job as the pros.
The family, guidance counselor, and I all know that there is a college out there ready to accept their tuition dollars and give the kid a summer’s tryout on campus for remedial tutoring before fall start-up. Putting a sharp pencil to paper, we came up with a lowball estimate of about one hundred and twenty grand to get this kid a sheepskin.
Instead of going that route, the handyman son and the family decided on renting a garage space, upgrading their son’s tools, and beginning an advertising campaign to do what the kid’s pattern, interests, and talents indicate – total car detailing business.
How many high school graduates can say that what they are about to study in college fits their DNA? I doubt if there are more than half of the incoming freshmen that are on the right track and getting full bang for their tuition investment.
There was one major proviso, however, in this career approach for Junior. He will attend community college several nights a week to take needed courses in business so that he is never at the mercy of accountants or financial planners who might take advantage of his naivety.
This notion of “college and only college for our children” must be re-examined. Bragging rights about premier colleges can bankrupt a family who select prestige over efficacy.