Once you get to the end of the required program of education you come to a hard decision. Do you continue with college straight away? Do you need time to consider your next move? Have you had enough education for the time being? It is the same set of questions that university graduates will ask themselves when considering applying for a graduate school position. Although by then at least they will know how they feel about the education system.
And the conclusion that the individual comes to will be different for everyone and based on wholly different considerations and needs. But there are some general factors to be weighed, many of them less to do with the actual coursework and more about other, social and personal issues, that are worth general consideration.
Firstly, a move to college or graduate school is a chance to move to a new location, to explore another part of the world, perhaps even a different country. In the case of those considering college, it may be the first opportunity they have had to start building an independent life outside the family home. To graduate school applicants, it offers a chance to break with the familiarity of the last few years and begin again. Both scenarios offer the chance to reinvent yourself or live in a city that better caters to your personality and interests.
You might be someone from the midwest who has always wanted to live by the sea or a west coast beach bunny who hankers after the quiet, and clear air of the mountains. This will be your moment, and to grasp it fully all you need to do is look up the top moving company in, say Nebraska or the best moving companies los angeles has to offer, respectively.
And with moving to such new environments come new sets of challenges but that is all part of the learning curve. Whilst living in your hometown in Maine you would have hardly been concerned with keeping your home cool, quite the opposite. Relocate that East Coast kid to a college in New Mexico and it is concerns about air conditioning that are top of the list. Anyone battling with the change of temperature considerations that comes with such a move can learn more at sites like Diversity News Magazine.
It might also be the first time that you have owned or at least run your own car. Without mom and dad to help sort out maintenance costs and the like, this is an area where it pays to pick up a few mechanical skills, not least to save money on costly garage visits. You don’t need to know everything but knowing where the oil goes, changing a tire, fixing a brake light, and replacing a fan belt will halve your running costs. There is plenty of information about basic car maintenance on this website.
Education offers you a great way to see a new town, a new state, or even another country. You will know when the time feels right to pick up and carry on your education. But don’t just think of it in terms of another year or three of education, think of it also as an adventure, a chance to explore, meet new people and grow personally.
There are many reasons to stay in education and often very few of them have to do with pure academia.
