High costs, four years and a possible dead end: this is today’s reality for many college graduates. Wando students therefore consider different paths to avoid these issues.
Senior Riley Chenoweth decided to first go into the military after high school before going to college.
“My plans after high school are to go directly into the Navy, and I’m going to be enlisted. And I would like to do the reserves for my first year and then attend college afterwards while pursuing my naval career for the next … four to six years,” Chenoweth said. “I’d like to major in forensic science or psychology, but for the Navy, I’ll be doing intelligence.”
Chenoweth’s interest in the military runs in her family.
“I come from a military family. My dad is a veteran. My uncles are veterans. My brother is currently serving in the Marines, and … I think the military is a very selfless thing, and it’s my way of providing back to the community” Chenoweth said.
Chenoweth also has an idea of what she wants to do for work as well.
“The military … could go either way. I can make a career out of it, but my ultimate goal is to be in the federal … FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) or CIA (Central Intelligence Agency). I’d like to go [to the] government level and use my intelligence for that to … do homeland security and defend the country,” Chenoweth said.
Senior Heather Ferraro plans on going to Paul Mitchell Beauty School for cosmetology, which only lasts one year. There are many reasons why she decided to go to a trade school instead of college.
“Originally it was because of [the] price, because with regular college, it’s four years. It’s a lot of money that I don’t have. And it was so much [to] the point where I considered going into the military to pay for it. And then a family friend mentioned, ‘hey, why don’t you try cosmetology?’ And I was like, ‘what’s that?’ And she says, ‘hair and makeup.’ I’ve been doing makeup since I was little for cheer, theater, band even, and I’ve been doing some hair too”, Ferraro said.
The person who pushed her to do it and inspired her was a Wando teacher.
“My theater teacher, [Clyde] Moser … he actually made me, basically, the makeup designer for ‘Chicago’ this year, and I designed all the hair and the makeup. Everybody did their own makeup, mostly, but I did do most of the guys’ makeup … and he also got me into makeup last year for a theater competition that we go to every year. Last year, I did an okay job, but this year I got a perfect score on my makeup design,” Ferraro said.
Senior Alex Ellisor decided to start his own dock repair company after graduating high school this year.
“I got my business license today and tomorrow it will become an LLC (Limited Liability Company),” Ellisor said. “I can work for myself … make my own hours, make more money … have more free time.”
Ellisor was also inspired by his family.
“My dad’s a big inspiration to me. I love my dad … he grew up and didn’t have a lot of money. He started a company, started two companies, and now I think he has a pretty … awesome life, and I want to do that,” Ellisor said.
There can be advantages to college, as well as disadvantages.
“I think college is a great way of getting an education because nowadays, it’s hard to get a … high salary job right off the bat … if you don’t go to college because they look for degrees. However, I do believe that there are some degrees that are not used and people pay thousands of dollars for,” Chenoweth said.
After all, everyone has to decide for themselves what the best path is, and what career they aspire to have. The future is not black and white.
“I do not think [college is] for everybody because, again, people like me, I don’t have the money for a big college. I couldn’t go to Clemson without being in severe debt. Also, trade schools, they go into … specific things and you’re in, if you’re into that specific thing, that could be an awesome route for you rather than spending four years at a college learning things that you might not ever use again,” Ferraro said.
