Well, today I had to present my Senior Portfolio to my class. Basically, it's a portfolio about what we want to do with our life. Actually, it has A LOT to do about college... but I have other goals for my life.

I don't want to go to college! I don't want to be "educationally successful!" I believe that college isn't everything and you don't need it to be successful! I don't want to waste thousands of dollars on an education. I don't think it's necessary! I believe work experience is just as good....but I don't want to live like a normal person either. I want to live in a yurt without electricity. I want to grow herbs and spices, knit and sew, create wooden sculptures.. and then sell them on the farmers market.

When I presented today everybody laughed at me. They thought that what I wanted to do with my life was ridiculous! Is this true? Am I wasting my life away by wanting to live it like that? Are they right to saying you can't go anywhere in life without going to college?

I really don't know anymore... I hate myself for this... I feel like I'm wasting my life away now.:cry:

Your peers have been fed the same stuff for years: go to college, it is good and you'll be successful. Don't go to college and you'll be a bum working at McDonald's for the rest of your life.

Truth be told, this isn't entirely true, on either end. I have several friends who have graduated from college with excellent engineering degrees and still have no job. And I know some pretty successful people who didn't go to college at all.

Honestly, if it's really want you want to do, then it's not a waste at all! Only you can define success for yourself. Unfortunately, a lot of people define it by how much money they have, and I think that's really silly. You seem to have a really good grip on what you want to do, and I'm actually quite envious! I still haven't really figured out what I want to do beyond "teach my future children to be respectable people." xD

Worst case scenario, you can go to college at any time in your life. There's no age limit at all. So if you find at some point that you do want to go back to school, you definitely can. (Additionally, you can also take classes and not work towards a degree... I know that my local community college offers night time "enrichment" courses like photography and computer skills and writing classes).

Edit: I found this while browsing today, and thought I'd share it with you ^_^

I wouldn't say that you are wasting your life either. If it's something that you want to do, then you should go for it. There is nothing wrong with wanting to do what you want. And you shouldn't listen to what the others think about it. And also I honestly don't want to go to college either. I don't want to waste thousands of dollars on something that might bore me later down the road. (I'm 21 and still not in college). But if you change your mind, you can go to school and do something else :3.

Right now I plan on just going into Job Corps and get some certificates in Culinary Arts, and live a pretty simple life. I wouldn't want a huge ass house with tons and tons of stuff.

Live life how you like it. Do whatever you need to be happy. It's not about other people's view on your life, it's just yours. Some people need the approval of other people to be happy, and that's a shame, but there are a lot of people who don't and they do just fine too.

Most people go to college because most people desire jobs that require a college education. You do not, so you do not need to go to college unless you want to.

Well I never went to college because I didn't know what i wanted to do, and still don't.

I just want to browse the genre's and keep ever changing work.
I know I will have to settle on a career sometime, but not yet, not for another few years!

I have had a job in a bar and am so far looking into Photography and receptionist work.

I shall do a bit of fashion designing and modelling over the years, and have plans for a lot more but nothing base yet.

You don't NEED college, but you will be on minimum wage for a good few year until you get more experienced.

Like you could start at a hospital as a receptionist, then to PA then onto something further and work your way up, or people with Level 2 healthcare will be 2 steps above you but will go into further education when they want to work their way up.

Either way I think it pays with both options!

My mother didn't go to college and made 6 figures a year doing a job that "required" college training. :P

She married late in life, and had two kids...both adopted.
She was happy. I'd like to think she had a good life, though, I'm sure if she could have she'd have liked to see me and my sister grow up. But I know she loved her job, and the house we lived in, and that was the life that made her happy.

So, no, I don't think college education is a requirement for happiness in life.

I have a friend who joined the army to be a medic, and his job is tough, and he's seen some really terrible things, but he LOVES his job, and the fact that he's helping his country.

Personally, if I didn't have to go to college to do what I want to study, I wouldn't. College for the most part is a waste of time and money. :/ It's too expensive and teaches you too little as well as requiring a bunch of bullshit classes that are going to be completely useless.
And, I'd like to point out that a bachelors degree is basically useless these days.

it depends on how much u put into your work ethic
if u=your lazy when working then yea life gonna suck
but then again, both my mom and dad did not have college degrees and have to work there fingures to the bone to keep our faimly going. (i only have a yunger sister so theres only four of us) ever go hungry for a week because ur parents couldent afford food? it sucks...
it all depends on where u live also. my state the jobs here pay less then others states.

Collige degree looks good to the bosses and sadly yea the'll pick sombody with a degree over you abyday.. ecept for jobs like mcdonlds, and movie theaters

You would not believe how many people with collage degrees NEVER get a job in the field they study o.O I'm just paying a very meager amount of a community collage fee BUT almost ALL my professors also teach at either the art institute OR this really rich private school. So why pay so much more when I have the same teacher? PLUS I'm studying interior design which is something I truly enjoy so even if I can't get a job in the field at lest it was something I really enjoyed and I'll be able to make my own house pretty bad ass XD Or I can do the under the table random job here and there thing (yay tax free!) So that's how I justify my time in school but yeah I'd say about 1/4 of the people I work with (photo tech at walgreens) have degrees and there making either the same to about a quarter more then me. I bet they feel like there wasting there life every time they make a payment on that student loan XD

What you want to do with yourself sounds amazing and I commend you for having a dream like that at your age. I'm afraid your classmates laughing at you it just a sign of the mental immaturity of people that age, some of them probably actually thought what you want to do is really cool, but if some people laughed first then probably everybody laughed because teens in general are afraid to do what you're doing, which is stand out from the crowd and have opinions of their own that are different to everyone elses.

Go for it, reach for your dream and do what makes you feel happy and fulfilled.

I have to agree with what everyone says. Your happiness is important! :) You don't need their approval. <3

Take me for example. I'm a registered nurse who is currently working in retail. I've had some depressing days where I broke down, cried, went through a whole phase of something is wrong with me and all the other unpleasant thoughts. Sure I've got the degree, took the test, internship...it just hasn't worked out yet. I have 20k+ in debt to boot. I'm going back to school for another degree because while I was depressed, I also came to realize that it's what I truly want to do. A couple things had to bite me in the butt, nonetheless I'm willing to stick it out and hope that at some point I will land a job in my major. I've even settled on the area I'd love to work in.

It isn't easy. College isn't the answer, trust me. Some of them may even find that out for themselves. c: Chin up and ignore them! It took me a year post h.s. to figure out what I wanted to do and then some odd years to be 110% sure about my choice. <3

I graduated in November with a degree in fine art. Looking back on what I learnt, and what I paid for - it was not worth the lost time, effort and money. Here I am two months later looking for a job, and i'm getting nothing but rejection letters left, right and centre. Honestly if what you want to do, makes you happy, and you can get by - then that's all you need. Whether that requires a degree, or not. Screw what your class mates think, and I feel your teacher did a poor job - in telling 'each to their own'.

Jimmy might look great in black socks - but his friend Andy may look horrible.

It applies to your situation too. I'm terribly sorry to hear that happened, and if I were in that class - I would not have laughed at you. I would have thrown some dirty looks around the place though. I know plenty of people who worked their way up from the bottom - to the top. It is possible, all you need is a good work ethic, and a positive belief in yourself <3 Please don't give up on your dreams, just because some other jackass doesn't agree. The sky is the limit right?

Things are so complicated now that I'm convinced it doesn't matter what you do. Going to college or not going to college, either could be a mistake. As you said, college could be a big waste of time and money and end up not helping at all, on the other hand, it could be the one thing that gets you a job you really need. I think you're right about the experience thing though, that has been a huge issue for my boyfriend and I in our job searches. Almost every job out there requires several years of experience, but only a high school diploma. And it's impossible to get experience without already having experience so he can't find a job. It doesn't help that he hasn't finished college and so he has no degree either. But I see far less jobs requiring a degree and no experience. I was lucky to get my job and it was only because my dad works there that I got it. But it's a good thing I went to college, because even though I hadn't finished college, they hired me since I had taken the necessary classes to learn how to do the job.

As far as whether you're wasting your life or not all depends on you. Are you sure that that is the life that you want? It might seem different and interesting but will you eventually grow bored living with no electricity and making crafts to sell? If you think you will be content living like this, do it. It's your life and it's your decision and you should live how you want to live. Just keep in mind how you might feel later on about it. If you get sick of living that way, will you have the means to change to a different sort of lifestyle? Will selling things you make bring in enough money to afford a lifestyle change if you choose? You're young still so you have time to decide just what you want to do and how you want to do it. You may change your mind and you may not, just make sure it is your choice and not someone else's.