Why Not "Work" Passionately?

Something I find myself asking from the readings of both Mike Ross in “Blue Collar Brilliance”, and Mike Rowe’s personal reflection in “Why “Work Smart, Not Hard” is the Worst Advise in the World”; is higher education worth the price? Answer: If you are happy… yes!

According to Mike Rowe in his “Lessons from the Dirt” website, lessonsfromthedirt.com, “We have a massive skills gap. Even with record unemployment, millions of skilled jobs are unfiled because on one is trained or willing to do them. Meanwhile unemployment among college graduates is at an all-time high, and the majority of those graduates with jobs are not even working in their field of study. PLUS, they owe a trillion dollars in student loans. A trillion! And still, we push a four-year college degree as the best way for most people to find a successful career?” All this because career paths are being manipulated by others?

Hard Working Man!

If it were not for the blue collar workers, America would not be the country it is today. The infrastructure of the United States was built with the hands of the blue collar worker, the universities that we all seek our college educations were built with the hands of the blue collar worker, the foods on our tables were grown by the farmers of this country, most of which did not seek a four-year college degree, yet society today seems to put so much weight on obtaining a higher education in order to “succeed”.

I guess the bigger question is… what is success?

 

We cannot disregard the great triumphs that have been the result of individuals who have gone the path of higher education. Feats in science, medicine and engineering, etc. supporting advances in the understanding of our existence within the world we live and the universe itself.

Great minds can be observed every day.

I have worked pretty hard over the past few decades to get where I am today. Some jobs I loved, some jobs I hated, but each job provided me with a learning experience. “I have been to the University of Life” is my typical response to the question “what college did you attend?” I can’t say that I personally have been treated any differently by not pursuing a college education, but then, I worked smart AND hard to get where I am today. Mike Rose stated in “Blue Collar Brilliance”, “Given the ridicule heaped on blue-collar speech, it might seem odd to value its cognitive content. Yet, the flow of talk at work provide the channel for organizing and distributing tasks, for trouble shooting and problem solving, for learning new information and revising old. A significant amount of teaching, often informal and indirect, takes place at work.”

Life is full of lessons. Whether college educated or educated by life lessons, never stop learning. Find your passion and doors will open for you. If your passion is picking up a tool or picking up a scalpel, you are working with your hands, your mind is engaged and learning. I feel the decision to pursue a career should be driven by what an individual loves, and not the control of what others feel is the “smarter” path.