Going to college after high school has become the logical thing to do nowadays. As students we are often advised to go to college or the outcome of your life will be a struggle. That all sounds familiar right?

Well here at Manhattan High School, each advisory time is mostly talking about students going to college, how to prepare for college, and so on and so forth.

Life after high school can be a scary thing. High school is supposed to prepare you for the real world, and what kind of path you want to take. You might be moving out of your parents house, going straight to work, or going to college.

Students have been complaining that they’re tired of sitting in advisory because mostly all of our advisors are shoving college down our throats. If certain students do not desire going to college right after high school, teachers should be helping them figure out a plan that best suits their needs, rather than saying you have no future if you don’t go to college.

What if kids can’t afford to go to college? What happens to them? Are they going to be “nothing” without some sort of college degree? For some kids money is tight in the family and college may not even get to be an option for them. Pushing students into college is like pushing them into debt. Yes, people that can afford college often still end up with some sort of debt and some spend multiple years trying to pay off student loans. Since college is so expensive nowadays, some students try and work to build up their savings then go to college, and others go straight into work.

I know that the advisors are told to educate students about college by the state, but quite honestly, it really hasn’t helped students in preparing for their futures. It has students so fed up (including myself) about even going to college because of the stress, the time, and the money that goes into it just pushes students to automatically check out and discontinue paying attention. It’s bad enough as it is with the homework, tests, projects, etc. and putting more pressure about college just immediately makes a student want to ignore their futures.

The advisory committee should be helping kids about what their own personal plans are and trying to help find anything out about what personal goals they have set.