I am very passionate about this subject because I am of the mind that college is no longer the end all and be all. It is no longer the “if you went to college, then you must be” worthy? better? more educated? aware? cultured? able to get a job?

Somewhere, somehow the vast educational machine was too big to control and society did not question the college paradigm. Society did not stop and notice that graduates were more and more at a disadvantage because guess what? They didn’t have experience doing things.

This is where apprenticeships come in. Why don’t we encourage them?

Why do we put our children starting in early middle (even elementary) school through the pressures of standardized testing…do you consider your child standard? Then, comes the pressure of high school credits and the last year of high school is spent in angst over college applications. This is ridiculous.

We should talk to our children, find out about what they love to do. Send them on a trip…on their own. Forget filling out applications, reach out to your network of friends and ask for your child to learn from them. Have your child find a mentor, have them want to be like somebody that makes a difference.

We need kids to make things, to use their imagination. People like furniture makers, mechanics, inventors, bakers, farmers, electricians, builders, sailors, weavers, sewers. We need a renaissance in crafts that are used for daily life.

Not everybody can get rich. Not everybody will become a billionaire. So in consideration of this fact, I would hope that at least your kids can be happy by working in what they love and giving the best of themselves.