well i'm at college now doing an Alevel in photography. i love it and plan on going to university to study it. if i was you, i'd do it! definatley.

i can't wait til uni. i plan on studying history of art aswel at manchester met.

You're right insofar as I have an academic career intended, provided I don't get published as a writer or successful as a musician in the interim.

A small thing to note, however - the older students have to work harder, and can't afford to do all the partying simply by dint of being out of the loop. I know plenty of mature students who work twice as hard as someone straight out of college, but don't do as well, simply because it's not a completely intuitive thing to study - it comes from constant practice, something which the younger ones have or are closer to, usually without being aware of it.

You are right, however, about education not being a necessity, it certainly isn't, and you can do just as well without one. However, lots of people at 18 have no idea what they want to with their lives besides vague fantasies of being in a band or whatever - University is a good chance for them to spend a few years finding out what they do want to do with their lives.

Regarding Isreal - I'm not so sure that that's a fair comparison. While I can't speak for American's, I do know that British Jews, in comparison to British Christians/ Atheists (the majority), tend to have a culture of learning, whereby it is expected of them to get an educations, something which is not so evident in Christian/ Atheist Brits. I can only expect that this same culture of learning is evident in Isreal as well.

i can relate to !@#$%! and truncated's posts best. university education can help you i suppose, but if you're not really sure about whether you want to do it or lack motivation to begin with then there's probably a big chance you won't finish it... unless you feel you really "need a degree" for your resume.

after school i really wanted to go traveling. it was where my interests were and i didn't have a clue about what to go studying anyway. but being insecure and the mostly negative responses of people around me ("go study first") didn't really help me. eventually i went to uni anyway, because it was supposed to be "better" to do that first. i wasn't really motivated, i didn't like it, dropped out (fortunately in my country that's a lot cheaper than in places like the us) and went traveling anyway. you're never too old to go studying after that.

moral of the story:
1. do what you feel like doing the most, don't let other people's opinions guide you.
2. you can always come back on your decision

but why are you saying that doing both isn't an option? like others mentioned above, you can always go studying after working/traveling for a few years... but you're probably better (and cheaper) off spending a year working/traveling and then decide you want to go studying instead rather than spending a year on uni and then decide you don't really want to be there.

yeah.. maybe if you're studying philosophy. :p
most university studies these days are way too specialised to use them as a way of "finding out what you want to do with your life."

yeeahhh, and I had to take EXAMS

i went to uni and didnt do it straight after college and it was better than doing right afterwards. you have to do what is right for you and i think travelling will do you a lot of good. its understandable that your parents want you to do well and maybe they are scared that you wont go but you have to do whats right for you.

i'm currently in my 9th year of college! plan to leave once i've hit my 10 year anniversary

I went MTSU in Tennessee, majoring in Recording Industry Management.

However, I called it......

Empty State University. But it was fun at the Regal Beagle and Century 21 record store !

The Regal Beagle?
Wow, this guy actually hung out with John Ritter and Joyce DeWitt!

I have a friend who is a a Prof in Mexican History at MTSU.

Also, when MTSU beat Vandy it made me vow to never go to a football game again.

I went to college. Twice actually. I never used any of it, but I think I am in the majority with that, so I'm not ashamed...

Ha !! Go Blue Raiders !! Ha Ha !

My dad went to Vanderbilt in the early 1940s, played football and baseball when they were a fairly good team. Vandy just shouldn't be in the Southeast Conference, they should be in the Ivy League and kick Harvard's, Yale's, Cornell's, Princeton's, Columbia's, and whoever elses' ass there. The school is too cerebral to attract the level of athletes they need. 'Cept basketball....somehow..cause they've played pretty well throughout time, even in the Southeast Conference...

I went to MTSU in the late 70s....so I doubt I know you're friend...:D

I lived in the Regal Apts. in Murfreesboro when in school there...and funny thing...

I moved to Nashville just after my last year in high school and the district I was in would have put me into Overton High. That's where John Ritter went to school !!! His dad was Tex Ritter, and the neighborhood I lived had many C&W music stars there.....on my dead-end lived Whispering Bill Anderson and Holly Dunn's songwriting brother, Chris, right next door ! Waylon Jennings, Hank Williams Jr., and Ralph Emery lived a stone's throw away too.....these were BIG Nashville stars !!! hahahaha...

And Nashville was like a large 'little' town....cause of the chumminess and easy accessibility to these people....FUN !

Whoa....I just said this a couple of days ago....and ironically Vanderbilt beat No 1 Florida tonight 83-70. They're 18-8 and have beat 6 ranked teams this season. I hadn't even been keeping up, so to see this sports headline I was amazed !!! :rolleyes:

double post...sorry...

University of Colorado at Boulder is where I'll be in ten days. I'ma study me some engineerin'.

My roommate likes Korn, Seether, and Avril Lavigne. What am I going to do? Haha.

no. i didn't even finish high school.

Wasted 2 years in "college" (pre-college skool), and went straight to work after. I have no regrets about not going to university at all. I spent 3 yrs seeing a huge amount of gigs in London, being a regular buyer at Rough Trade, learning how to drink and love. Now that's good livin'!

I didn't finish high school either.
Go us!

Though I plan on starting my photo degree this month... which ensures the fact I'll be living in a box for the rest of my life.

i have a GED.

whoopdeefuckingdo. i don't even need it.