Baldo by Hector D. Cantú and Carlos Castellanos for April 13, 2023

get with the programa, Sergio

Yes, Sergio has a solution!

Trade school or now, On the job training. Pay starts right away and with the right career you can make as much as you are willing to give.

You can get a good degree for a lit less than $75,000 debt if you get financial aid. My kids both left college just a couple years ago with only a few thousand in debt and very good paying jobs. Any college debt is a travesty given how most other rich countries have no college tuition, but on average, people with degrees make more than people without. Of course, if you want a career that requires trade school, do that. The idea is to know what career you want, then study for it. Just don’t coast aimlessly through life.

I’ve really dug this arc, especially since i’ts a practical conversation to have: While Baldo needs a better plan than “live with dad, ? , profit”.. he’s not wrong that college costs a LOT and that he has no real need to go there. While I get Sergio wants the best for his son.. I also get that most of Baldo’s two big skills we’ve seen, automotives and art, really don’t require a college education.

Sergio probably knows people who made this decision at Baldo’s age (enter workforce with nothing but a high-school diploma) and have struggled all their lives. Some introductions are in order. Yes, people have achieved success with no education beyond high school. Extraordinary people. How extraordinary do you feel, Baldomero?

Baldo is not wrong.

Went for 3 years and flunked out, hated it. Joined the navy. Wound up going to school, LOL! It was better as they taught you something you really needed to know! I had no debt to pay off, before colleges became money machines.

Scholarships? Wait, this is Baldo we’re talking about. No chance in ….

Does Sergio have a degree? Forgot what he does for a living, but seem to recall something blue collar.

Unless you go to one of the top 20 colleges, your degree has the same employment value whether it’s from state U or ritzy Private. Pursue grants, try for every scholarship, work summers, do community college to get the required courses then transfer.

Trade school. You can be a plumber, an electricial, a mechanic…the possibilities are endless.

Pursuing a degree purely for earning potential, against inclination and aptitude, is never a good idea.

Listen to Baldo, Sergio. He is making sense for once. At least you won’t have to worry about Gracie, who will, no doubt, have tons of scholarships to pay for her college degree.

Baldo could follow the path of Gordon from For Better Or For Worse. He loved working on cars, and was good at it. Never went to college (except maybe later to take some business classes). He eventually took over the garage where he worked, and it grew into a successful, big car dealership.

When my oldest grandson graduated from high school 11 years ago, he decided that he didn’t want to go to college. He looked at the military but opted instead for going to work with his stepfather as a union-apprentice ironworker. He not only availed himself of all the specialized training the union had to offer, and became a journeyman ironworker but is a job supervisor and instructor.

He currently makes at least twice the money that his buddies with their university degrees do. There are not too many young men of 28 that I know of who own their home, and two vehicles, and are able to comfortably support their wife and child.

The proper question to ask before going off on a rant about not going to college is “Baldo, what do you want to do after High School?” Then sit down with him and go through how that would work, for job satisfaction, earnings, and things like what kind of place he could rent on his pay. Get him involved in the process. If his choice is not practical, let him discover that.

Baldo is onto something. Things have changed, and not for the better.

I hold a Masters degree. My mechanic makes way more than me, and lives in a nicer house.

Right now, Baldo’s plan consists of a full time job at the auto parts store and dreaming about classic cars. That is not likely to lead to any kind of skills (beyond what he already has), career progression, or self-sufficiency. He needs to think about good careers he is interested in and capable of, then learn what those careers are like and how to get there.

Don’t pick a training method and hope it gets you a career, pick a career and find out what the right training is to get there. Trade school, college, the military, and other approaches are all great ways to get the skills you need for a career. Yes, college has costs, but many careers require a specific degree. If one of those careers is your goal, go get the specific degree you need. If the career you want is better reached some other way, do that instead.

Become a sports agent and make money off of other peoples talents.

There is likely a Ca. State University nearby so he can commute, community colleges in Ca. are tuition free and 60% of undergraduates have enough aid/grants to be tuition free too.

Become a politician and make money for very little work. No experience necessary!

Yah, and you can’t decide on a course of education based on how much money you can make. It’s got to be something you have a propensity for, or have some motivation that will empower you to knock yourself out studying and anything else you need to prepare.