Aim High!

Around my house, my older daughter and I have an understanding about her education. She is very bright, and figured out early to ignore the constant stream of TV advertisements for what we call (I call) "fake ass colleges". Every time we see them come on, we just laugh and laugh. I have taught her to recognise them by the heavy use of words like "career" or "technical" in their names. They always have some abbreviated name like ICT, TCT, PCP, or some shit like that. The "C" is always for career. These alleged schools, we say, are almost colleges. You will earn a degree, almost. You will have a rewarding career, almost. The truth is, you will earn a certificate. You will become someone who went to a real school's assistant. Now, don't start getting ready to fire back at me in my comment area, the last thing I need is a bunch of dental hygienist pissed at me. I'm just saying. If you are currently "enrolled" in one of these schools, you are probably being ripped off. Most of them will sell you a certificate (remember, not degree) that you do NOT need to get the job you are shooting for. Colleges, and employers do not recognise these courses as true credits, and if you read the small print on the advertisement, it even tells you this. I saw one the other day for I.T.T. that said at the bottom, "transfer of course credits not likely". Not likely. Now that's funny. I'm not calling anyone who has fell for this an idiot. Hell, I once went to one. I remember telling a potential employer that I was enrolled their, and him and the other management all laughing. They told me that If I got the job, they would train me and give me their own certificate, I didn't need to spend a year or two and waste a Pell grant to get one. These schools go after people who have no real plan, and a lot of dropouts. They try to make you feel like your family will be proud, and you will restore your dignity by completing the course. They show clips of a graduation scene, with everyone in gowns and shit. I hate them, but I love them? We get a big kick out of the new "Construction Management Degree Program" they are selling these days. Now that, my friends, is comedy. They show some poor minority woman (picture enclosed) holding plans and wearing a hard hat, like she's running the show. She's like, "Get to work Mofo, don't make me pull out my certificate on your ass!" And there all standing there, going along with it. God bless her. My point, if I have one, is this. Know that it wont be enough to get where you want to go. If you want to be a dentist, don't stop at hygienist. If you want to be a nurse or doctor, don't stop at medical assistant. Want to be lawyer, don't work for a paralegal certificate. Get that school under your belt, and get that God damn job. If you want to run a construction site or crew, don't even bother going to school. Get a job doing construction, be the one person on the site NOT smoking weed, and pay attention. It wont take long. Sometimes, just having a valid license or knowing Spanish will push you to the top of that heap. That's not a joke, that's the truth.