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Originally Posted by hawky94 Hi everyone!
I'm looking for your opinions/advice on an issue... I wouldn't really call it an 'issue', but anyway.
I've just finished high school here in Canada (YAY!  ) And currently have a small job which pays minimum wage, but will not be attending post-secondary-education institution in the Autumn.
I'm happy to have money in my pocket, but, I would like to attend post-secondary education at some point, but I see several problems: Firstly, I have absolutely no idea what I want to do with my life right now. I'm a writer by trade, so I'm looking to potentially follow up on that. But there is also other things I've considered doing (Policing, Journalism, and then there's joining the military.)
The second issue that I see with my post-secondary aspiration is that I do not have the money to fund my own secondary-education (it costs around $30,000/year) and I do not want to be balls-deep in student loans and paying them off until I'm thirty.
There is a possibility that the military could pay for my post-secondary education, but that's not certain. Given that I might re-locate to the UK next year, I'm unsure as to whether I should follow that up...
I'd also like to travel - see the world, perhaps not right now, but at some point in my life, I'd love to backpack or tour bike through Europe and the world.
I feel as though I'm stuck betwixt a rock and a hard place... Any advice?
Cheers. Sorry for the ramble :P Hawky. |
My opinion, and it is just that, a personal opinion is to line your pockets and get a very decent safety net in your savings account before you make any rash decisions.
University is good, but having a degree doesn't pay the bills. My brother just graduated from MTU, in a very popular field yet he is having a VERY rough time finding a job in his field, actually, a decent paying job in any field.
My parents signed for his school loans and in less than 6 months those payments will start. That's a huge responsibility.
I did not get a degree (I dropped out of University) and had a decent paying job and I am glad I did. I wish I had kept that job for a little longer and I had been more careful with the choices I made with it. Money that is put into savings goes very quickly when life pops up with her little surprises. Lunatik and I are learning this the hard way. Did you know a fractured foot gets you a month off work? Yeah.
I can't stress enough that you need to have a cushion behind you in case anything happens. While acquiring some savings you can think about what path you would like to take next, be it military, university, or just backpacking.