Should I go to college or trade school?

In a few weeks over 600 young men and women will be graduating from our high schools. Some of them will go to college and some will enlist in the military and the rest will either look hopefully for a job without any experience or training or just join the food stamp brigade. This seems to be a yearly problem facing thousands of students not only in the CNMI but also in the United States.

It seems that over the past years going to college for everyone has become a matter of political correctness. Schools have dropped almost all vocational courses from their system. It has become the fashion that every graduating student is expected to go to college whether he is fit or not.

Vocational education has fallen out of favor. In fact many schools consider students taking vocational education to be dumb and not fit to attend regular classroom studies. The end result of all of this morphing from valued vocational education to no vocational education has resulted in yearly increases in high school dropouts. As a result most high school dropouts are not prepared for the world of work. What a sad waste of youthful talent!

The unemployment rate for recent high school graduates who are not in a school of higher education is a high 33 percent. Consider the students that attend colleges-only about 40 percent of the students who enter them graduate. And two-year community colleges graduate less than that, about 23 percent! What happens to this huge number of dropouts without any skills or training?

According to Diane Ravitch, a professor of Education at New York University, “The Bureau of Labor Statistics states that less than a quarter of new job openings will require a bachelor of arts degree. We’re not training our students for the jobs that actually exist.” Meanwhile the U.S. has begun to run out of welders, glaziers, auto mechanics, and other necessary trades.

To many of us, trades people are considered of lower educational level. But is this necessarily true? Consider the time we were in high school. We studied algebra and other forms of abstract math. We also were introduced to the metric system. But did we ever apply any of this to practical work? Did we ever learn about the different materials that houses are built with? Did we ever learn anything of practical value about plumbing and electricity in our homes?

Now consider this: All of a sudden the plumbing in our home begins to leak badly, the wiring is old and shows signs of fraying, and the house could use a new paint job. Whom do we call? We call various trades people to do this work for us.

When they have finished they hand us an astronomical bill. After gasping for breath, we realize that they have earned in one or two days more than twice what we earn in the same period. Yet we are college graduates and they are not. How can this be?

How could this so-called uneducated trade guy measure the exact amount of paint to paint my house? How did he figure out the type of wiring that needed replacing? How did he learn to get the correct metric size plumbing fixtures? What would we do without trained vocational people to build and maintain our buildings and other surroundings?

Simply put: the vocational trades person has a practical knowledge that allows him to put into practice what we learned in school as abstract knowledge and never use. And, I may add, he is not worried about a 64-hour austerity pay period. He is too busy working full time.

How many of us really planned our lifetime job? Did we just take the first job offered to us? Are we enjoying the work we are doing? Is it rewarding financially and mentally stimulating? Do we take pride in our work? These and more questions like these are the ones we should discuss with graduating students.

Remember, one of the reasons we work is to make money to support ourselves and family. But more importantly, we should be engaged in work that is mentally satisfying. Think of the many people grudgingly trekking to work daily and sitting in their place of work just waiting for the clock to release them from their agony. So it goes for years until illness or retirement creeps in. Life has slipped by without tasting its sweetness. There is an old saying: Many people die at 25 but are not buried until 75. Guess the meaning.

No, college is not the answer to everyone’s needs. Some of us who desire to be professionals such as lawyers, doctors, accountants, teachers, and other professions requiring a degree are the ones that should go to college. The rest of us who do not desire to enter any of these highly professional skills should seriously consider a vocational school where we can learn a respectful trade with a good salary.

Here is a quote from John Camacho Salas, Ph.D., Deputy Director of Education, Guam Public Schools and the founding president of the Guam Community College and the 7th president of the University of Guam: “As a college student, I had to learn to make money. .I needed skills. .I worked as a custodian, a hamburger fry cook. .I earned my degree in architectural drafting. That study of technical skills became the foundation for the 35 years of my professional life that I’ve spent as a trades educator.”

Let me relate a personal account that is taking place now. I am in the process of dry docking my dinner cruise boat. Dry docking means to take the boat out of the water and repair it under U.S. Coast Guard supervision. Because I need skilled carpenters and other skilled labors, and could not find any local labors, I have had to hire all nonresident workers. Daily, as I watch them move skillfully cutting out the bad wood and replacing it with good lumber to exact dimensions, I notice that they move deftly, measuring and fitting each piece accurately.

I shake my head and say to myself: “What would I do without this skilled source of labor? What will all of us do without this skilled source of labor when it leaves?” Are these men uneducated because they do not have a college degree or are they educated in a different manner?

To all young men and women, if college is not your bag, consider learning a vocation or a trade. Here is a sampling of fast growing fields that do not require a bachelor’s degree and their average earnings per year: Masonry helpers, $27,800; Iron/rebar workers, $38,400; welders, $53,910; electricians, $67,990; painters, $34,280; carpenters, $44,330. These wages will go up or down depending on the state you work in.

Yes, I can hear you saying: “But the minimum wage here doesn’t allow for that kind of wages.” Okay, so move away. Or start your own small labor craft company and you will definitely earn that much or even more. I know because I did exactly that in Hawaii for 10 years prior to coming to Saipan.

The technical skills that students need can be learned at the Northern Marianas Trades Institute. This institute gives the students long-term advantages, skills, and they are also advantageous to our islands.

I quote from Dr. Salas again: “The issue of building a local skilled labor force is one that we all need to work together to solve. If we can’t find a solution, then we are the problem, and our community needs to synchronize our efforts to reach that Holy Grail of a permanent, local base of skilled labor.”

So let’s ask the question again: Should I go to college or should I go to a trade school? Only years down the road will we know the correct choice. Will we have pride in whatever work we will be doing or will we have cheated ourselves because of our lack of foresight? Help the graduating students to decide.

Remember to make at least three people smile daily! Have a great week!

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Pellegrino is a longtime businessman in the CNMI and the former president of the Saipan Chamber of Commerce.