As I have mentioned before, I come from a long line of farmers and tradespeople, and was the first in my family to go to university. And yes, my parents and teachers encouraged me to do so, and I appreciated their confidence in me. Could I have built a successful business and happy life in a college or apprenticed trade instead? With some good luck, I think so, since the traits and habits that make one successful, or not, tend to translate to whatever work we undertake. I know that good manual skills are hugely valuable in life. My husband and I have continually engaged in physical labor outside the office to great benefit all our lives.
Most fortunately, my family expected me to be not just studious, but also handy and adept at manual labor. Many people who are trained for a desk job, are not expected to do be handy, just as many who are trained in the trades are not expected to be intellectual. These things are not mutually exclusive of course, and we should not counsel young people to act as if they are.
I would note however, that ideas in this area seem to move in waves. When my children were in high school they reported several career days, where teachers counselled the class to go into trades only and not university. Our kids thought the anti-university bias also unhelpful. We need knowledge and intuition to build skillsets for life–heads, hearts and hands.
Thanks to a reader for sending me the below clip–there many excellent points herein.
Mike Rowe, TV host of the popular show “Dirty Jobs”, testifies before the House Education & the Workforce Committee on the importance of career and technical education. Here is a direct video link.
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