We are taught that in order to be successful in life, you must go to college to obtain a college degree. I do not agree with this. College is an option for those who want to choose that path. However, some students struggle to get through highschool, so college could be intimidating. I will argue that people don’t need to go to college in order to be successful. 

One way you are able to start a career path is if you have a career center in your town that you can go to while still in highschool. You are able to start there and get a head start on the trade you want to do. The local career center in Springfield will let  people come in during their junior year and you submit job applications. Then you can work in the summer for the trade you are attending school for and gain experience.. Also during the senior year, you can work the second half of the school year and get paid. The CTC website shows you all the certifications you will graduate with if you successfully pass the program. Following CTC,  you will be considered  a 2 year apprentices and will only need one more year to be a journeyman. While you're working towards this, you will be earning money compared to people that are attending college, and accumulating debt.  If there is not a local career school, most work forces will hire you with no experience, then pay you to go to school,  and train on the job site. If your employer has you attend school, it’s typically about a year but you are still able to work during this time to have steady income.

My second reason I believe skilled trade are the more logical route is the rate of pay and the benefits. You can get excellent benefits if you do skilled trades, such as health insurance, retirement saving plans, and paid vacation days.  Then if you are a part of the union you are able to have  better job safety and protections, better paid leave than non-union workers, and are more secure exercising their rights in the workplace. Pay rates will varies based on which state you live in.  The Zippa website shows how much each lineman makes in each state and the 10th state is Ohio with the annual average is $96,720 and the highest is $141,000. The number 1 state is North Dakota with an annual average salary being 103,032 and the highest being 134,000. You may have the potential to make more money with a business manager degree, but this will not happen until you are fully graduated with experience and you will still have student loan debts to pay off.  

It may be argued that college is the best way to go because it’s more reliable or you will have potential to make more money with a college degree. But it is not always true because people with trades will be making money right out of highschool and they won't have any debt unlike college students. Also by the time the college student graduates, the person with the skilled trade will be a journeyman because it only takes a few years to graduate and advance from the apprenticeship. Journeymen earn higher incomes. But there is still room for growth after a journeymens. You are able to become a master in the trade and work independently and set your own rates and determine your own work schedule.

In conclusion, people say the only way to be successful in life is to go to college and get a degree. But I think they are wrong. College can be one route you can take to make good money, but it is not the only option to becoming successful. This is why I think blue collar is better than white collar because the path of trade school helps build a foundation when you first start, and offer better benefits and pay. 

zippia.com/lineman-jobs/best-states/#ohio