Today's Culture: Options After High School (1976)

[Music] [Music] [Music] graduating from high school for the first time you don't have to go to school you may never want to write another book report take another geography exam climb the ropes in gym or dissect one more earthworm but to suddenly stop learning things Forever on a sunny day in June to the tune of pump and Circumstance that's more frightening than anything now is when you got to make the toughest decisions in the past there were just two choices you either went to college or you went to work but a lot of changes have taken place since then your options have increased maybe you don't know what sort of choices really are open to you after you graduate maybe it's time to find out going to a 4-year College may not be for everyone but for some it's working out well I entered college right after graduating from high school without really knowing what I wanted to do or what field I wanted to go into it sounds like it could be a dangerous thing and in fact it appeared a little bit like a waste of time at the beginning I started driving a cab to support myself while I was going to school and uh became interested in the urban environment in New York City I saw things that I liked and didn't like things that I would like to change and found out that City College offered uh a program in architecture one of the reasons that I came to school was uh to get the kind of professional criticisms on my design projects that uh the type that's going on here today where faculty members who are also part or full-time practicing Professionals in the field of architecture have the opportunity to criticize students who will going into the field right upon completion of this course in particular I did have the opportunity to expose myself to so many different kinds of fields of interest that I finally got lucky and I found the type of thing that I really was interested in and that I thought I could work at and be happy the rest of my life so for me college was a good thing if you decide that the standard for your college isn't a good thing for you then what well there are experimental programs in higher education if you can work well on your own you may be interested in this kind of option I was really concerned that my continuing education be relevant to what was happening in the United States and the world friends World College was my first choice because its program seemed to facilitate what I was looking for it offers you a chance to have your education be totally integrated with um your career with your goals in life and with the world when freshman do come they're part of the North American program for one full year then students will progress to one of the other centers we have five other centers around the world one in Japan India Kenya England and one in Guatemala the second semester I went off to Mexico and um there after studying Spanish and going through an orientation program I got a job teaching English at a school in Mexico City um the next semester I went off to Africa on a study travel trip and since teaching and education are my main area of study I decided that I wanted to work with primary school age children there in Kenya the school helped me arrange my project I have a friend who just got back from Guatemala and there he was working at a medical center in a rural village within two months he was able to learn enough to be able to give shots and give prescriptions and really work as a par our Medical Professional every student is required to keep a journal journals are not Diaries they are actual documentation of your learning experience journals replace the uh traditional grades and exams you graduate with a ba and liberal arts and many students who wish to transfer into the program are given credit for life experience outside of school I don't feel the presence of God at as a college it's it's only a a particular environment that allows me to function the way I'd like to it offers me resources and facilities and uh the teachers are not I would not classify them as teachers but more as facilitators they're using the students to both build and design all the new buildings that are erected on the campus this is a case of Gard instituting the Practical education as well as the uh institutional the kind of student I think that functions best in this system is a person who transfers here from another institution I found that to be the case students that come here straight out of high school usually uh have a very rough time at the end of each term instead of taking tests or having grades you have evaluations where the student is asked to rate himself against himself in terms of what he expected when he started and what he ended up with and you really have to do a lot of honest introspection if you feel that a four-year education only insulates you from the Working World a work study program sometimes called Co-op may be the answer I chose a co-op School primarily because of the work experience I thought that it would be good to actually see some of the things that I've been learning at school be put into practice I'm a co- student from North Carolina antique State University I'm here working in computers to come up here which is 550 mil away was a decision I had to make uh I was a little afraid at first but um I decided that it was a challenge that I wanted to accept and I accepted it and now I'm glad I did you alternate in 3month periods beginning after your freshman year and you continue this alternating until you graduate you don't have to be a a a big student you know they're looking for a average student uh that has the right attitude that likes to learn likes to increases knowledge to progress in life and that's what exactly what is happening for your college today some of them are not you know what they uh have been in the past and a lot of kids are going to technical schools and getting the training that they need there you know and going into the world but with just Co-op option uh four year of college you know it's pretty good uh I think too many people go through a four-year program and they never really know what it's going to be like after they graduate and then they're just dumped out into the world and uh it's a big shock to to them they find out this isn't what they wanted and this isn't what they expected but by that time they really don't have a chance to change the majors or uh to change and they're just trapped so I figured this is a way to really see what I was going to be getting into before I got into it suppose you're not sure about college well there are routes you can follow that might help you make up your mind I'm a visted worker in Williamsburg Brooklyn I came here from Illinois after finishing High School I didn't think that going on to school was a realistic alternative I didn't feel like I had enough sense of what was going on outside of of school to be able to make a decision on what I wanted to study later I chose Vista because I saw it is an opportunity to be working with people in tough situations where where things were really happening where people were really living and and working together and I thought it it was the best way to find out um um how things were moving outside of school right now I'm working as a tenant organizer we work in buildings where landlords have abandoned where conditions are poured getting the people together to fix up their buildings to generally help their attitude towards their living conditions we're starting to start a community project to rehabilitate every abandoned building that's in Williamsburg section Southside that's why we have to meet tomorrow Williamsburg is um is a tremendous this community the people around to you have a lot of energy and a lot of enthusiasm and they really keep you going after I'm finished in Williamsburg I probably go back to college but at least I'm going to have a better idea of of what I want to study and what I don't want if you don't have the time the money or the inclination to go to college you still have many different options says the 6266 golf to win 350° at 6 cleared for takeoff 66 golf Roger after departure left Clos traffic approved report 7 mil from touch 305 report a right down Runway 18 After High School I had really no Direction uh I was planning on taking at the time it seemed I just follow Direction what everybody else was doing at the time which was go to college I decided I wind up going a small College out in the midwest after one semester at school things just hadn't worked out the way I had planned so I talked to a couple friends I had who were in the Air Force and realized some of the educational benefits they could be gained and after journey I had the chance to go through Air Traffic Control school and be stationed here at Maguire and one of the most dense traffic areas in the United States cleared for takeoff I realize the Air Force isn't for everyone but the educational and Vocational opportunities is so unique that one shouldn't Overlook the Air Force when considering all the possibilities available after high school to frequency change approv that a nice day since I've graduated high school I've been traveling around the United States wanted to take a few months off to think things over and I didn't like the idea of being pressured into going to college some what I'm doing is something that a lot of my friends talked about and not any of them did and it's been rather difficult so so far I've worked as a waiter a gasoline attendant I've worked in factories I've also worked as a Salesman any job that would allow me the time to take off so that I could write and travel when I felt like I wanted to move on and go someplace else meet new people and get different ideas I've really learned about people more than anything else and I've met hundreds of people traveling every day I come across new faces new things new concepts of thinking and different ways of living and relating to life a year is a long time to go without roots and right now I'm looking to settle down and find a little place where I can do my writing College isn't out of the question for me I'm thinking of going someday but when I do go I'm going to go on my own time schedule and not on somebody else's starting your own business is an alternative that could be an educ in itself this is our ice cream store mother bucket's homemade ice cream we've been in business for about 2 years and Mark and I I'm Morin with the Proprietors after I got out of high school I felt the need to to make a certain amount of money and I really wasn't prepared to take my life into my own hands completely and just go into business then I had to I felt the only option was to look to somebody else for some s a job is best that I could make out once we had decided to open the business that it was the right time and the right place and it would be a successful business we worked to accumulate most of the money we got that on our own labor then we didn't have enough so we went to an investor he also thought it was a good business so he put in some money and the rest of the money we got from a loan from the bank you have to be aware of satisfying at least 30 or 40 different kinds of tastes that are walking into the door so you can't just have five flavors you have to have at least 15 and prepare for that in advance mock takes care of the manufacturing end and I take care of the retail end making up the schedules taking care of hiring firing training in the early days we put in 18 20 hour days consistently now we put in maybe 10 hour days you have to put in a lot of hours to make a business room you can't only say I know how to make money you have to say I know how to take care of the plumbing of my store I can take care of the refrigeration I can do carpentry work I could probably build my own house right now not to mention the fact that I can understand what motivates a varying number of people at the same time graduation isn't the only chance in a lifetime to take advantage of the options constantly opening up I'm a student at manhattanville college and I'm studying psychology I went uh right on to college After High School and found that I didn't like it plus the fact that I was more interested in getting married and decided to quit and go to work and then I got married and four children and 20 years later I was very bored and really wanted to do something and I started working as a volunteer in the nursery school my youngest child was attending and they offered me a job because they really thought that I was very good with kids and I worked there for 3 years and discovered that I was good but didn't have really enough knowledge in certain areas especially psychology because many children do have problems and their parents have problems and as a teacher they come to you so I decided to maybe investigate coming back to school and I decided to try one course just as a non-degree student and uh I really enjoyed it so I went on from there this summer I'm taking have normal psychology and psychology of a mature person rainbow a rainbow and in my education courses I am working with children in the local public schools teaching them to read and some math and I will be student teaching full-time in September I have found my kids really respect the fact that I've gone back to school and that when I say I must study they really unless it's an emergency let me have that time they have been really good and understanding and I think my husband has been fantastic I think for some people it's much better to go out in the world and work and look around and really find yourself and know exactly where you're going before you go to college because otherwise I feel it's almost wasting for four years if you're going to come out after 4 years and not know who you are or what you're doing you might just as well not have gone when I left College I never thought that I'd ever go back to college but since I have I'm just so delighted because I've discovered that education is a continuing thing you never stop learning you never should stop learning and I don't think anybody has to be afraid of going back to college whether it's one year after high school or 20 years after high school you should just continue to [Music] learn what you've seen is only a s sampling the tip of an iceberg in addition there are all kinds of technical schools 2-year colleges and specialized schools well worth your investigation the possibilities are unlimited your own options will naturally be created by your needs interests and Imagination none of the choices of the people youve seen are perfect or right for everyone they are simply Beginnings starting points for you think about it [Music]