My friend who is older, her partner is the Director of Foxtons and he doesn't have a degree just a BTech. I went to her house in Essex it was worth 2 mill and her neighbours where doctors and footballers.
I know what you mean, there a lot of successful people don't have degrees, and also a lot of people holding degrees without success.
For me, I'm not necessarily looking for wealth and recognition in the industry, but rather a high-level of knowledge to be the best I can be, perhaps retiring into a higher-level job later in life.
My dad didn't have the opportunity to go to school but has done well for himself but has always pushed me to become 'educated'.
I will never make as much money as he did.
Interestingly I'm actually in the same position. My dad had no qualifications and ended up creating an incredibly-successful business, generating an absurd income.
However most people can't understand how tough it is to grow-up in a wealthy family (which seems silly). When growing up, we perceive our surroundings as 'normal', so being raised in a large-house with nice-cars , you'll naturally aspire to be as successful as your parents. Later on in life you'll suddenly realise that you'll almost-certainly never come close to the lifestyle you're used to.
Well if you are an electrician and you are making good money, or you have the expertise to start up your own company I would try to do just that. Personally, I don't want to sit in an office for the next x years
I used to sit in an office (and hated it) leading to a change of career. After qualifying, there didn't seem to be any jobs in my area which lead to me starting my own company as a self-employed electrician. When I started, I was lucky to know others in the trade who passed-on work, but things quickly slowed-down, forcing me to begin looking for employment. It's tough out there, even though I'm confident with business requirements, actually finding work is hard.
Plus I've had friends who completed law school who are just working 'normal jobs' because they don't want to achieve the higher legal qualification so e.g. admin assistants although some of them are training to become lawyers..
I studied law, psychology, sociology, and politics during college; aspiring to eventually become a conveyancing solicitor. I dropped out of college after the first year for two reasons:
Firstly I was working part-time and preferred spending my time earning money, with an offer of nearly double my current-wage if I continued working full-time.
Secondly, I was surprised to find most of the students in my law-class where usually high, not interested in learning at all.
Plus everyone will be shocked to hear that I'll be attending to learn a trade soon. Mum was okay with this when I mentioned it to her. Friends and uni tutors will be shocked and think I'm an idiot. Similar to what others here have told me here
Simple advice - don't worry about what others think. Your friends and family should support you regardless, your uni-friends will eventually be forgotten anyway, your tutor is paid to teach and encourage further-education (spending lots of money) at the university in order to make more money.
Don't listen to them, you've got to do what's right for you. The way to think about it is that you'll be incredibly knowledgeable (often greater than your employer) which means you'll do things correctly. Plus you'll always have the option of progressing to something else if you want, everything is possible.
they wished they had never become what they were today e.g. fashion photographers and instead went to learn a trade in construction. Back then I never understood it but I do know now.
I can understand their thoughts, they probably studied for years to become a 'professional photographer', but perhaps resulted in identical set-ups everyday in the same location for little-money.
see things differently in creative ways
I live by the philosophy: "stop learning and start creating".
Education is undoubtedly the fastest way of answering your questions through popular explanations, however the explanations given are not always correct.
For example, Albert Einstein predicted that nothing can travel faster than the speed of light, a theory accepted by many.
However, we can now prove that particals have indeed exceeded the speed of light, proving his theory wrong. Furthermore quantum-entanglement adds a whole-new field of exploration, with evidence of absolute-instantaneous states, regardless of distance.
My point is - if everyone just accepted what they where told without question, great-advancements would be ignored, or never discovered at all. So create and experiment!
I was pushing my brother into becoming a plumber
This is really strange! My brother is also a plumber, which I encouraged him to peruse. He say's he doesn't enjoy the job, but he loves the private-work, so I think things will work-out for him.
Btw I don't know you or have your life, so I can't tell you if you should go to uni or not but why not give it a shot? Whats the worst that can happen, you decide its not for you? At least you gave it a shot.
I think it's best to give it a shot, maybe in a few years for extra revison of course. Thank you for your advice by the way!
-Chris
Quit 3 months in at a top law school. Loved my a level in law, hated doing the degree. Fashion school has been way better but I don't want to work in the industry. What company are/were you an apprentice with if you don't mind saying?
