Should my child choose to drop out of college, I, as a parent, will try and talk him out as to why he chose that path as I was not raised to have that kind of mentality. Despite that, I will still continue to support him in his future endeavors for as long as it is his passion and I know that whatever he is doing by then will lead him to a good life in the future. 

Aside from money, college also provides people with a multitude of opportunities for growth. Certain degrees require attaining higher education, and this provides students with the necessary knowledge for their course. In addition, college presents students with real-world applications wherein they encounter challenges and uphold responsibilities. However, is it right to force our children to abandon their passions for the sake of their education? This highlights the responsibility known as time management. Although education should be prioritized, one’s interests and passion should not be neglected. I would suggest that my child finds the balance between their education and passion. 

As parents, it is our responsibility to raise our children while advising and reminding them of the consequences of their actions; thus, providing them with a bigger picture or another perspective. By simply going to college, one is simply more likely to make more money and to be successful at what they do. It is also a doorway of opportunities that prepares students for the real world. Thus, if my children doubt the significance of college, I would emphasize the necessity of pursuing a collegiate education. 

References:

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/10/13/more-education-doesnt-always-get-you-more-money-report-finds.html#:~:text=A%20bachelor's%20degree%20holder%20earns,to%20%243.3%20million%20for%20men.

But at the end of the day, it is up to them. I will always support and guide my child no matter what they decide. I will make sure that it is what they want and they are sure of it. 

We live in a highly capitalistic society that values profit over feelings. In search of that profit, individuals tend to hire and select people who they consider ‘safe’ or ‘low-risk’. Having a college degree certainly increases that economic safety. Which increases a person’s prospects for high-paying work and jobs. 

Why aim for high-paying work? There is in fact a simple answer: money. Money plays a crucial role in our world. No one can deny or say that money is useless. Sure people can argue that money isn’t all that important, but it sure is helpful when you are able to buy your own food to avoid starvation. Our own neglect or failure to earn money will result in poverty. A state of poverty where one is deprived of food, shelter, and water. Now how can one pursue his or own goals in life while they are literally dying? Before anyone can pursue their passions, joys and love, they must have the economic capital to access those things in the first place. Entering college increases a person’s economic value which in turn increases their prospects for wealth. 

Although this construct in our society limits people from achieving their true goals and passions, this capitalistic construct promotes productiveness within our country and the world. The whole point of why we are rewarded with wealth for our duties and services is to promote work. The more people work, the more development and progress we gain in our world. 

I do agree that there are statistical extremes of college dropouts who have found success in our modern society and international markets such as Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, and various actors and singers. However, we must note that these pioneers of technology and business have dropped out from some of the most prestigious colleges of America; Harvard, Stanford, Yale, etc. The fact that they qualified for these Ivy-League schools in the first place already says a lot about their capacity and skill. It is also important to note that most of these pioneers and tech-giants found the ideas for their companies and built big connections through college. 

Also who says that you can’t pursue your passions after college? If you're worried about time, then you must know that no one can stop you from pursuing your own ventures after college. A good college degree can also provide you a sense of economic stability and economic capital to pursue those ventures/passions in the first place. Expecting that you can invest that much into your passion while in college without a source of income or economic stability is simply wrong. 

My son and daughter would say that money would not matter to him but the thing is there is only one thing that revolves this world around. Money is needed to do things such as provide the essential necessities, saving, house, electricity, water, and even your wants. College will be you way to provide a stable job, and even though you want to pursue your passion you can finish you college degree first, and then you can pursue your passion so that just in case you didn't succeed or you lost the passion to it you can have a backup stable job, and you won't have to waste your late 20’s or 30’s trying to accomplish you college degree, and by then you would not have enough money to enroll college because you are no longer dependent to your parents anymore. 

It is never bad to dream or wanting to pursue something, but it is important to have economic stability and a college degree will help that, and time is also not your best friend so it is best to make the most out of the things you have while you are dependent to your parents.

Personally, pursuing the benefit of not showcasing too much in education like college is really substantial. From my known and matured peers, most of the people who did nothing but study landed in office jobs or substantial jobs that has substantial salary. Though an “ok” job many of them describe it as “company slave” or “nawawalan na sila ng motivation” or they don’t have a say in almost anything they do so technically they are unhappy. On the other hand, the people I know who partied and actually had fun and made connections in college are starting their own businesses and are actually really happy at their own jobs. Be it, selling figurate candles, has their own café/restaurant at such a young age and working as artists of many sorts. These people are happy with their jobs even though they did not do the best in school and is actually contented with what they have.

My advice for my child, allow yourself to lead the way. Focus on one thing that you can repeatedly do many times without getting frustrated, bored, lacking motivation or irritated. As long as the career you want can sustain you and will make use of your abilities the best and you are not stepping on anyone, choose that career. Never let anyone ever downgrade you or your career based on what you did in the past, present or even future. 

Working as someone you don’t want to be or don’t want to do is really hard and will just create toxicity in your life. My own parents even told me that the office is a really toxic place full of stepping on others, “toxic pagalingan” and many backstabbing. I do not want to suppress my child in that kind of lifestyle. I chose to have a child and whatever they want to do, they shall do it as long as it is not harming anyone or themselves. 

College is a place to find yourself and is a good backup to whatever career path you have. Entering college will give you new life experiences. Do not let college define you but let college HELP find your true meaning and true self.  

Talking from personal experience, my grandfather never graduated college before he started his own company. He learned business talk from selling sacks of salt from a young age. His ambition and curiosity educated him. It took him longer to attain success but success became inevitable. We are unique and that is what's special about us. We have the ability to adapt, learn, and store knowledge from our own experience better than just hearing it from lectures and seeing it on screens. Education is a reconstruction of experiences, which means we may get educated just by living. A diploma is just a piece of paper you get by answering quizzes and shading letters. I believe that educated people come from learning through experiences. 

Sure, neither path guarantees ‘success’ and an actual secure future. However, college presents way more benefits. The most obvious benefit is that college education makes it more likely for you to land a job. Why? One of the most important things that employers look for in a resume is the educational background of the applicant. College graduates are more likely to be picked by employers compared to those without a college degree. 

Why do you want to land a job anyway? Isn’t life about taking risks and living it to the fullest? Well, yes and no. How else do you expect to get the means to live your life to the ‘fullest’? Whether you like it or not, money and jobs are what keeps humanity from completely disappearing off the face of the Earth. You can argue all day about money not being able to buy happiness, which would be true to a certain extent, but it sure does give an opportunity to not be miserable; there’s a difference. Can’t pay the bills? Can’t pay for groceries? The world will not stop just for you because it literally could not care any less. Going through the hardships of pushing through college is worth it as it may build character and prepare you for what’s to come outside. Living in fear of debt, homelessness, and starvation is a different kind of struggle that I wouldn’t be able to handle seeing my child experience. Sometimes you really just have to do unhappy things to get to a stable or ‘happy’ point in life; that’s just the reality of this world we live in. 

I see college, or school in general, as a ‘daycare center’ for the real world. Here, you learn values and principles that you can carry over until you grow older. An important value that can’t be taught, but learned in school, is discipline and time management. When you’re given loads of tasks, you’re left with no choice but to discipline yourself and learn how to balance everything all out. If you can't even get your life together in school, how do you expect to pursue your passions outside of school? If you look hard enough, you might even be able to find courses related to what you want to pursue outside of school. That way, you get to learn more with the aid of an actual licensed teacher and get the proper guidance you need. 

I’m not discouraging my child to quit his/her passions and play it safe his/her entire life. College education is just one of the many ‘stages’ one can’t miss out on. Not just because of the teachings and classes, but it should be where the fun begins. In college, you start to build relationships with people of different backgrounds and figure out who you really want to be. You don’t even need to quit your passion at all when you get to college, you can just do it on the side. If it blows up and does really well then why not, right? It’s just that dropping out is way too big of a risk to take. You really have to be sure that you’re that 0.00000000001% just like some of the celebrities, internet icons, and billionaires we have today. My child, my offspring, I only want what's best for you. Unless you’re REALLY sure that you’re that 0.00000000001%, please for the love of God go to college.

I believe that school is not so much for teaching us academically, but instead for teaching us to discipline ourselves to be able to work properly and be a responsible and accountable person in the future. Nevertheless, having a diploma is still necessary as it will allow employers to reassure themselves that the one they're employing is educated, and shows promise as an employee.

Even if my child manages to start a business of their own, there is no guarantee that it will stay afloat, let alone blow up in success. Sure, there are many people in the world who have dropped out of college and were still successful, but how does that number compare to the whole population of the world? There are countless things to take into account for a business to be successful, on top of the already risky nature of starting their own business. In short, skipping college to start a business is a huge gamble that has a higher chance not to pay off.

While it is true that there are dropouts that are successful, the opposite is also true. There also exists those who dropout and don’t become successful. It’s just that those who are successful get glorified more. My point is that, dropping out of college isn’t a one way ticket to success. There are also a lot of risks when it comes to dropping out. While it’s true that you get a lot more time to work on your passion, the risks you get aren’t all that worth it. When you decide to not go to college, you lock yourself out of all the opportunities that college provides.

It’s not just that dropping out is risky, it’s that going to college is just too safe to consider dropping out. The risk of not having a decent life for just a small slim chance of “success” isn’t worth taking. Not only that, but if you consider the alternative of going to college in comparison to dropping out, staying in college is just a no brainer decision to make. Staying in college gives you a good shot at having a decent life, with more access to job opportunities that can provide stable income. It’s true that college doesn’t make you “successful”, but we all have our own definitions of success anyways. Some want to be billionaire philanthropists while some just want to have a quiet life living a 9-5 job. Nevertheless, college can still contribute to whichever success you want.

As a parent, I think I would have to have them go to college as, in my opinion, its the better decision for them. Of course, I also want them to follow their passion, but I don’t see how not going to college can help them pursue their dreams. Rather, I think that there can be space for both, or even maybe for them to find their passion through college.