Re: Education or working opinions.

Posted by WA-Hal on February 03, 2011 at 15:32:30 from (208.81.157.90):

In Reply to: Education or working opinions. posted by Erik Ks Farmer on February 03, 2011 at 10:32:44:

Tough questions, and only you can make the decisions for yourself.

I trained to be a teacher in college, but got involved in a totally different career during my Senior year. I stayed in that career and ended up retired medically before I was 50. I got in on a truly wonderful pension system, with benefits much better than if I had a career in education. When I started in this other job, teaching jobs were pretty hard to come by, at least in the Spokane area where I choose to live.

I always wondered if I would have liked being a teacher more than the career (with many different assignments) that I had. I know people that have been teachers that would have chosen nothing else as a career. I also know people who have been teachers who hated it, and some who hated it more and more as the years built up, but they felt trapped by the nearly finished requirement to teach so many years to get a pension. There is a LOT more B.S. in being a teacher today than there was when I was in school 40+ years ago. You have to put up with lots of things that I wonder if I would have been able to tolerate.

In my state, a teacher can get a starting teacher job with a Bachelor's degree, but I believe that teachers are expected to get a Master's degree within so many years after starting teaching. That means Summer school or night classes for years--not so good for farming, or at least the farming I grew up doing.

Also, starting teacher pay is ridiculously low. Around here, it gets better over the years and with more education, but it never gets really high. Under the old system, the teacher's retirement was pretty good, but the current plan is not nearly as good or as secure.

I think if I was trying to make the decisions you are, I would do some research on how easy it is to get a teaching job in your field of expertise or interest within a reasonable commute to your property. You don't want to spend half of your life commuting--it just doesn't pay.

It also might depend somewhat on your family situation. If you have children, I will tell you that they don't get cheaper to raise as they grow older. And lots of young people today have debt from student loans or the dreaded credit cards. You will have to do what you have to do, whatever that is.

Lots of the posters have suggested finishing your degree, and that might be good advice. But maybe not. I would say that completing my degree never earned me a cent more than if I had never done it. Don't get me wrong--I had a great time in college and learned lots of interesting things while getting really good grades. But as far as earning me more money, in the life path I chose, it really didn't increase my money making. Maybe if I had done something else, but not what I did.
I probably would have been upset with myself if I had never finished my Bachelor's, since I was only one quarter from finishing it. But had I would have had to get a Master's for most of the jobs in my major.

As far as the shift work job, might it work into something that pays well, has advancement possibilities, and is fairly secure? In college, I had a friend who worked at a feed plant at night and went to school days. He now is general manager of that feed plant. I don't know if he ever finished his degree, or if he got more education to help get the management positions. But he never would have got there at all if he hadn't been working for the company.

I grew up in a farming community and lots of the people I went to high school with are at the time of their lives when they are thinking about retiring from farming. Not one of my friends has encouraged their kids to continue in farming, even the ones who farmed lots of acres. Instead, most of them have encouraged their kids to take other jobs or careers, and maybe help some with the farming. What will happen to their farms remains to be seen.

You sure wouldn't be the first farmer that had a "town job" to keep the farm going, if you choose that route.

Good luck, and I hope you make the decisions that are right for YOU and your family.

Replies:

Add a Reply Name: E-Mail: Subject: Comments: Optional Link URL: Link Title: Optional Image URL: Optional Video Title: Optional Video URL: Advanced Posting Options Email Notification: If you check this box, email will be sent to you whenever someone replies to this message. Your email address must be entered above to receive notification. This notification will be cancelled automatically after 2 weeks.   Advanced Posting Tools   Upload Photo  Select Gallery Photo  Attach Serial # List  Return to Post

TRACTOR PARTS	TRACTOR MANUALS

We sell tractor parts!  We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today. [ About Us ]