Should I go to college to do what I love, or learn a trade?

My passion is learning about and helping wildlife. I was thinking about going to college to get a 4 year degree any biology, but my father wants me to become his friend, who is a plumber, apprentice. what are your opinions? I am really conflicted and would like an outsiders opinions. I am 21 if that matters at all. Also it should be said my father knows t can get me into electricians apprenticeships and HVAC.

In my opinion, if a person has the means and ability, they should always choose college. You can always train to be a plumber after collage, but you only get one chance to go to collage at the regular age.

Having a collage degree opens a lot of doors in the future.

Go to college, get your degree. Finishing college with any degree shows you committed to something and will look good on any resume. You can still apprentice and learn on the side if you have time, or during summer breaks. But honestly go chase your passion. 21 is VERY young and you have all the time in the world to educate and arm yourself for the future. Since you dad seems ready to teach you a trade those options should still be around once you finish school.

If you follow your father's plan for you and don't enjoy that type of life / job it could lead of a lot of resentment between the two of you.

I would say the fact that you are considering your options means you have a good chance coming to a good decision. For what it's worth the very long time ago when I left college and was in the throws of whether or not to go to university or work I had to make a similar choice. And if I chose university should I study something I am academically good at, something I enjoy or something that would be most likely to give me the chance of the best job ( as it seemed impossible to study something that covered all three).

The tipping points in my choice were not coming from a very financially strong background and it being the first year that England/Wales started tuition fees. My Dad, in a very out of character moment said, go study what you enjoy - you'll be working to pay bills, you'll be having to eek out your money so that last thing you need is no motivation to study too. He was right, I went to do Film History and while I had to push myself to turn up to my evening job I was always getting my work in as it was tasks I was engaged and interested in.

If working with and studying about wildlife is something you really love I'd say do it first if you can. If it isn't what you want to do, following up the electricians path is always open. I guy I used to work with retrained as an electrician at 33 and was no further behind in his career after 5 years than someone who gone to do it straight from school. Time is on your side.

If you can, go to college. Even if you do something that seems like there are no jobs, you can sometimes find some positions through an internship. Make sure to do volunteer work for profs so you can get good letters of reference to get a good internship. No one tells you this, but one of the most important parts of undergrad is making as many connections as you can within your department through doing projects for profs.

This is speaking from my experience doing an undergrad in physics, but from what I've heard it's similar in most departments.

while there is absolutely nothing wrong with a trade, following what you want now though could lead to a seriously interesting life, imagine landing a job that has lots of travel and stuff. Go for it! I did military first cause i couldn't afford college, now im about a year off from graduating for freeeee, but if i had the resources to do college from the start I would have.

As someone who's about to graduate (and also 21), there are lots of ways to make college shorter and cheaper if you go. I cut a year off my 4 year degree with community college classes and the like.

I'd say do what you love, but if college isn't quite affordable or sustainable it's okay to save for a a year or two. My brother ended up becoming a cop for 3 years but it meant he was able to finish his degree relatively debt-free.

Hope my 2 cents help, good luck!

Do what you love fam, end of story. You can always go back and learn a trade, but you will never get your youth back and if you truly love it you will just end up with resentment that you didn't start earlier.

Thank you so much for all the replies! This is my first post on this site and I am really glad you guys commented. It really does help!

If you have the means, ability and interest I'd definitely recommend college. Even if it doesn't lead to your dream job it's good fun and looks good on any job application. As others have said, you can always learn a trade after college if your interests change. I've never done anything specifically related to my degree but it's certainly helped get my foot in the door and I had a hell of a time while studying.

As others have said, passion beats practicality every time.

If you aren't happy with your job, is it really worth doing? Chances are your performance will suffer, and you'll end up in a worse position than you would just having loans or what have you.

Especially with a career you are talking about, the personal fulfillment of knowing you are both doing something you love AND contributing to a worthwhile cause is are priceless.

Also, just my 2 cents, trades ARE useful, but only to an extent. I fully believe a lot of these jobs will either be replaced or de-emphasized as systems become more user friendly. Personally, unless it's something extremely complicated I first try to repair it myself, and that's just from learning what I can from the internet or knowledge from friends.

To bring it back around though, absolutely do what you love. Even if "what you love" was plumbing, I would still say that. After all, everyone has their opinions and what works best for them, personally I would always choose college but I know a lot of people who's passion is writing or art and they maybe got a 2 year degree just to get a job in the meantime.

Try college.

So this is how I would approach it, if you live in the United States.
- Go to you public library look for a book that describes jobs
Check under wildlife, biology, ecology, forestry, etc to see if colleges in your area have programs
- Take an honest assessment of your abilities
Were you 'generally' good in school? For a biology, ecology, or forestry degree you will be taking sciences, is that where you did well in school?
- What resources do you have
Do have your own savings? What is your family's ability to help financially or just support? Do you have the ability to move to where school offer your college program? Do you live in a state with a good community college system?

Unless you are wealthy, I would start at Community College! You can save $30K-$50K off your loans starting in Community College and then transferring to a 4-Year college for the last two years of your degree. Also, if you find 'higher education' is not for you Community College is a good way to test your metal for a lower cost.

If there is a Community College in your area, go to their website and see if that have subjects study & majors in the general field you want. Second, many Community Colleges TELL You how well their course works transfers to 4 year schools. If you live in a state with a GOOD Community College the classes transfers 1-to-1; that means "Biology 101" at the Community College will be accepted by 'most colleges' for THEIR "Biology 101"...it counts towards a college degree! You don't want that stats for transferring credits, you want the statistics for transferring and accepting classes & classwork.

Unless you are wealthy, I would start at Community College! You can save $30K-$50K off your loans starting in Community College and then transferring to a 4-Year college for the last two years of your degree. Also, if you find 'higher education' is not for you Community College is a good way to test your metal for a lower cost.

This, make sure you find a community, or even just cheaper 4 year college, that transfers credits to where you ultimately want to go(not sure where you are located). Otherwise there's not point. If you do find one that transfers credits you can basically get all of your general requirements out of the way(arts/social sciences) and go to a "real" reputable school for the classes that matter and where you will get the best instruction for the classes you will NEED to know.

Just to piggyback on the Community College aspect: for the large majority of colleges in the US, all that matters is that you got your degree, not the prestige of the university. Sure, some rare occasions you might find someone that also went to your school that gets you fast-tracked for an interview or something, but in most cases you can accomplish the same, just-as-effective degree at a school that is MUCH cheaper. I only wish when I had gone to college there was a rampant stigma for Community Colleges, etc...

It’s your life. It’s a tough age to step up and tell the folks who have (and probably still are) supported you that you’re going your own way.

Do it, though.

Listen to their advice and consider your path. If you want to follow a passion, do it. Now’s the time to follow your heart and take risks. It’s a lot harder to do at 40. More risk, more investment in a path, etc.

If you do go to college, hit up a community college and collect some general education credits on the cheap. If you like the school, maybe stay. Work a job and save while you’re in school. Every little bit helps.

Yeah as really ask for advice. As need to get a second or a third opinion. But really follow your heart and instincts. If you go to college. In order to get a degree as long hours but they will pay off it you keep at it!

Definitely go to college. What college students usually don't realize is how many adjacent careers are open to them once they have a specific degree. Being a plumber or electrician probably pays more at the start than a job right out of college, but your career prospects (and earning potential) are MUCH higher later on with a degree. And a biology degree at that? I can tell you that employers from numerous industries are desperate for anyone with any STEM-related degree, regardless of whether it's exactly the industry their firm is in.

Go to college, especially if you already know you want to major in the sciences. Biology is a good major that will open up a lot of doors in terms of careers and jobs, even if you don't end up working with wildlife.

Thanks again! yeah my local college is a community college, so it is considerable cheaper.

College = Networking/Connections (but you gotta work for them)

Work = Money/ Usable Skills

You are 21, so you don't need to decide on a trade just yet. If you can, I'd say college. That doesn't necessarily mean you have to go to a four-year school and get a six-figure loan. If you don't currently have any credits there's nothing wrong with looking into community colleges and switching to a four-year school later.

There's also *nothing wrong* with going into a trade and I'm not one of those with the opinion that *absolutely everyone* should go to college. It may well be that going into a trade may be more lucrative, depending on what you choose to study in college and how relevant that is to future work. BUT - and this is the important part - it sounds like you already know that you want to college, and you are old enough to make your own decisions.

1) Don't let anyone else dictate where your life should be headed.

2) Don't go to the other extreme and shut out what everyone else has to say.

If learning about and helping wildlife is your passion, that's great! That doesn't necessarily mean you should pursue it. Take an honest assessment of your abilities. Are you good at science, especially biology? Are you in any way squeamish? Are you prepared to work long hours under possibly bad conditions for nowhere near enough pay? Do you live in a place where a degree dealing with wildlife could land you in a decent job?

I'm not saying "don't follow your passions and dreams ". But also, don't go to college and put yourself tens of thousands of dollars in debt only to find yourself unable to pay it back because your degree can't get you a decent job. Passion doesn't pay the bills. Do you think you can reasonably pursue your passion and also cover your practical needs?

From a practical perspective, you may want to consider working a trade for a few years, saving up as much money as you can, and then go to college with a nice fat financial cushion as well as a skill to put into use if your college plans fail. I know you won't get "the college experience" or whatever, but you're already 21 and that ship left port just a little while ago (and also, there's nothing to stop you from having fun with people your age in your free time after work).

Follow your dreams and passions for sure. Your family should respect and love you for it.

Most folks who are a few years older going to college need to have a job. Once you are accepted see if there a jobs on campus that fit with your degree of study that pay as well as they job you have. As someone said, work=experience, and the best outcome of that when you leave school you not only have the degree but you have some experience.

If you are getting a Wildlife Biology degree is fine if you have a really well paying job folding sweaters at the GAP, but ONLY IF you are being paid so much more than if you worked on campus/locally in the sciences, environmental sciences, laboratory, or field work. If you have a minimum wage job, do not keep it if you can get an minimum wage job close to your field or on campus. Even, if you have a well paying job, start looking for a well paying job or one with a slightly lower wage in your field!!!! Get your foot in the door as fast as you can. Life is sometimes luck....

“Luck Is What Happens When Preparation Meets Opportunity"

My advice is if you get get into a school look for what is available in terms of jobs close to your field of study. Find a job close to campus if not on campus, if nothing else so that you can go to school, study, and work without wasting time. Always be looking for the next job, the next step-up.