High school graduation, of course, is a milestone moment in our lives. For many budding adults, it represents the first step on a journey to figure out a career path. For some graduates, serving our country is their call. Others are ready to join the workforce immediately. Many choose the traditional college path, which for decades has been lifted up as the “expected” path. But like Bob Dylan sings, the times they are a-changin’.
So often, kids — young adults, I should say — head off to a four-year school with no real idea of what they want to study or do. And a college degree is no longer the guaranteed source of higher pay that it once was.
Our March issue looks at the workforce development training offered at the state’s two-year, technical colleges. These schools are training so-called “blue-collar” workers to weld, work with machinery and do other jobs that are just as important to the economy and our society’s continued ability to function as “professional” jobs like bankers or lawyers. And many times, the students coming out of these two-year programs are making more money their first year on the job than they would in many “white collar” jobs.
The Bakers are living proof of this changing dynamic. We always assumed our son would head off to college after graduating high school. But he’s set to join the welding program at UA-Pulaski Tech after graduation, and program graduates regularly receive high-paying job offers. He’ll have to work his butt off and even travel — “missing out” on those office ritual staples like business casual and water coolers — but he’ll be making “bank,” as the kids say, and doing something he truly loves. Isn’t that all parents can want for their kids?
Programs like Be Pro Be Proud, highlighted inside, are showing these young adults that there are options, many of them lucrative.
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