I guess I came here to vent in the hopes that someone can give me some advice maybe. I want someone to challenge me on my beliefs, and if you reaffirm my position, I expect a very good argument from you (although this is anti-work so I can assume what the bias is going to be). I'm a high school senior, and all of my peers are talking about which college they are going to/applied to. However, I have been really considering not going to college because it just seems like so much work. I know it just sounds lazy to say that it is “too much work” but allow me to explain a little bit. I would rather go to a junior college or enter the workforce directly and work a more physical labor oriented job than an abstract corporate job. A bachelor's degree on average takes about 4-5 years to complete. That is literally just a repetition of high school in terms of time (assuming you graduate in 4 years of course). On top of that, I need to constantly worry about networking, while also trying to maintain a social circle. To me, that seems almost irrational for me. I don't really care about financial success, as long as I can eat a relatively healthy diet and can afford to live in a somewhat safe, clean area, I'm going to be happy. So to do all this work in college just to kiss-ass in some dead corporate office seems like a complete waste of time. I don't know, maybe my perception is biased because up until now, my plan was to major in accounting and become an accountant. Obviously, that is basically the pinnacle of kiss-ass meaningless corporate jobs and it may not represent all of what college has to offer. Thing is, if I were to major in something I truly enjoy, it would leave me in a fairly adverse financial situation. I love the humanities/social sciences, like psychology (I know some people consider this a science science, but I'm including it because it does have a more philosophical/sociological side which is the part I'm interested in), political science, and especially philosophy. None of those can really get you a job, unless you bust your ass to get a Masters (or above in some cases) and get a job as a professor or some very specific job. That is also not really an option either, because I would left off where I started. The thing is, as much as I would not like to admit, the social status of certain jobs is still important to me. To illustrate my point, I will show you two timelines, A and B. For example, in timeline A, let's assume I got a job as an electrician or HVAC mechanic after high school. In timeline B, let's assume I got a job as a CPA or controller (or really any other high paying, middle-class, white-collar office job) after many years of college. People will look at me differently from timeline to timeline, whether we as a society like to admit it or not. My parents will look at me differently, my friends would look at me differently, etc, etc. I always apply this timeline to timeline comparison to plug in specific jobs I have been thinking about to compare their social standing. I also tend to think about how A and B would be perceived by others at my high school reunion, for example. People will look at timeline B much more favorably as they will see how much money I make and that I'm “putting my brain to use.” I would not get the same type of respect for timeline A, and really only fellow tradespeople would give me any type of respect. Whether the added social status is worth 4 more years of this shit is a question for me to reflect on I suppose. I need to question whether I would be able to hold my own against these societal standards if I chose a career similar to A. The egotistical part of my brain also feels like something like timeline A would be a “waste of my brain.” I have a fair amount of academic prowess. I'm not at the Ivy League level, but I'm certainly somewhat far above average. This clearly demonstrates some level of intelligence (and no, I don't mean IQ because that is an antiquated measure of intellect). So whenever I am considering these more “honest” and physical jobs, I wonder if I would be “wasting my potential” Anyway, that's where I'll stop this mind dump. Thanks for listening. Some feedback about my thought processes would be much appreciated.
tldr; I don't want to go to college to get a BS corporate job because it seems like too much work for so little reward. At the same time, however, I don't want to get a more physical job because of the potential social stigma that can come with it. This is just me wondering if I should bite the bullet and just take one of these more “honest, physical” jobs, regardless of what people say. It may represent an insecurity of mine, but I do value the social status of jobs to a certain extent, so this is easier said than done. All I want is for you guys to provide your thoughts on what I have said, constructive, destructive, affirmative, literally whatever. I just need some people to talk about this with.