By Shayan Abbasi
The four-year university path is great. From Harvard to Arizona State University, four-year institutions have a universal charm; many students visualize four years of working hard and playing hard. The four-year university pathway has undoubtedly been romanticized by shows such as “Gilmore Girls,” which hold a special place in our hearts despite offering unrealistic scenarios.
However, numerous underappreciated alternatives can pave the way to success while providing a different kind of education. While the masses are engrossed in term papers, midterms, coffee and existential crises, trade schools, community colleges and the military offer underestimated pathways to a bright future.
Trade school
Have a practical or unique talent? Or do you just despise sitting behind a desk for eight hours a day, relentlessly observing the different shades of color on the wall? Imagine a world where you can ditch Shakespearean sonnets for fixing HVAC systems and ditch mathematical monstrosities for assembling telecommunications wires.
Trade schools offer various options for a diverse range of skill sets, and many of these positions will be available — if not, expected to grow — in the coming years. Salaries for trade school graduates vary, yet most are placed above the national median income. Other advantages include job security during recessions, increased opportunities for scholarships and avoiding the student debt that ultimately arises as an obstacle in many four-year institutions.
Community college
Contrary to popular belief, community college is not just an “extended two years of high school.” Rather, an affordable, high-quality education is offered without the hundreds of thousands of dollars of student debt. Why pay inflated tuition to attend lectures with hundreds of classmates tightly packed into a lecture hall when you can get the same, more individualized education at a mere fraction of the price?
Let’s face it, general education courses are the same from Stanford to Golden West College, and with inflation reaching a 40-year high in the United States a mere year ago, let’s save that money for what really matters: groceries and a roof! Furthermore, community college graduates who major in STEM out-earn their four-year university peers who major in other degrees. From this data, we can conclude that the degree makes the salary, not the name of the educational institution.
Armed forces
The military provides exceptional opportunities and pathways for students that benefit not only them but our country as well. From financial benefits to offering hands-on experience and a diverse set of opportunities, serving in the armed forces offers a number of benefits. Instead of drowning in student loan debt, students who join the military can access programs such as the GI Bill and ROTC scholarships, offered to support servicemembers and their dependents.
While a university education provides theoretical and academic knowledge and a diploma, the armed forces offer practical experience with certifications that can translate directly into the civilian job market. Skills acquired in the military showcase leadership, personal development and discipline and are highly valued by private-sector employers.
The paths less traversed — trade schools, community colleges and the military — offer unique benefits that can suit some individuals far better than the classic four-year university journey, offering numerous specialized skills, a source of financial relief and discipline that can translate into personal and economic success.
There’s more than one way to be successful in this life, and the journey is more memorable than the destination.
