Is Vocational Education the Anti-College?

I had an educator the other day mention to me that they were very impressed about some of our program offerings next year and that "not everyone was made to go to college".

I thought about this for a while.

What did this mean?

Is there a decision at the age of 16 that forces a student to make that choice now, whether college is an option?

Is Career & Tech (the new word for vocational school) seen as the anti-college?

Then I realized- the answer is fairly simple- it's the perception- silly.

Let's frame the discussion around a hypothetical example and let you decide how this should be labeled.

Jimmy is a B and C student at a Virginia high school, finishing up his sophomore year. Like others in his class, he has aspirations of going to college. When you ask Jimmy what he wants to study in college or area of study-he mentions engineering or maybe psychology. His older brother went to VA Tech (on the 5 year plan) and his parents are both college graduates and professionals in the area. Certainly anything less than a 4 year degree would be a bit disappointing at the conclusion of Jimmy's educational travels. Jimmy has taken a few advanced courses and performed fairly well. He plays baseball in the spring for the high school and is active with his church on weekends. Jimmy likes to spend time on the computer, likes to use his ipod, and is hooked to his cellphone on most occasions. Jimmy finds himself frequently in his parent's garage, using tools and creating things for around the house.

Jimmy went to a career fair where the local vocational school was discussing program opportunities. He saw that they offered a carpentry class that had an emphasis on architecture and design. Now he has a dilemma, take the course, which he is intrigued by, or stay at his base school and pick up another elective. He is concerned over what the carpentry course will do for his college application although he is pretty certain it would be something he would enjoy taking.

Now I ask you- what should Jimmy do? Certainly there may be many factors in this case that we would need more clarity on to help Jimmy make his decision.

Here's how I would answer the question. IT DOESN'T MATTER!!!

What? It doesn't matter? How can it not matter?

Well, with certainty, I can attest that colleges will look at the rigor of coursework a student has on his/her transcript over the course of 4 years in high school. One of the factors often overlooked is the PASSION THEORY. Making sound course selection decisions is certainly important as is measuring how much you have learned after those experiences. The Passion Theory, which I have just coined, measures how much interest and engagement you have about that particular subject, and the energy and desire you exhibit to pursue this field of study. If you have high passion, guess what, you will own your education. You will seek out opportunities. You will perform your own research, analyze your own case studies, and seek out experts in this area of study. You are not bound by the classroom walls and are driven by the acquisition of knowledge, opposed to the letter grade.

Isn't that what we want? Students owning their own education?

Well to find out what passion students have, we must EXPOSE them to opportunities, many of which they may not be aware of in their own backyard. You don't know what you don't know- especially at 16.

At the beginning of the day, an alarm clock shall sound and a future employee will have 2 choices. 1) hit the snooze numerous times and just hope that it all goes away or 2) turn it off, because you were already dressed, and travel to a place that doesn't seem like work but provides you with a source of income, satisfaction and opportunity to pursue a passion of choice.

You decide, or better yet- let the student.