Fri May 17 2024, by Tyler Gardner

College vs. Vo-Tech: A Journey of Two Careers

I'll bet I make way more money as a college graduate than you do as someone who chose not to go to college. Maybe let's see how this one plays out post-college.

The Beginning of Our Careers

I just got my first job offer with a degree in English literature. I'll be teaching seventh grade writing and making thirty thousand a year. Just have to start paying back a hundred thousand of student loans at five percent interest. Oh yikes!

I got a job at my local garage when I was 18 because I did votech in high school. I've been making the same thirty thousand dollars a year while you've been paying back interest at five percent.

Growth Over Time

I've been investing some of the money and earning interest at five percent. Five years later, I just got promoted to senior teacher and I'm currently making fifty thousand dollars a year. You know, still paying down that debt at five percent, but I'm about a quarter of the way there.

I'm starting to put in some good hours, and I made about sixty thousand dollars last year. How many people in my area have 13 years experience working on engines? I'm just glad I started learning a practical skill super early in life.

Challenges Ahead

Fifteen years later, I just got laid off because of demographic shifts in my area—fewer kids coming to school. I don’t know what I'm going to do with my English degree. Maybe write a memoir.

Sorry to hear that; I run my own shop now and make about a hundred thousand a year. Even in a recession, we still have to fix cars. I could start teaching you how to do some of this work, but I'm a college graduate. It wasn't supposed to be like this.

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