Debt free = college free

I have been debt-free almost my whole life. If I need a car, I pay cash. If I don't have enough cash, I do without the car. Ditto with smaller purchases. I don't have a house of my own, although I would like to have one. My work has pretty much precluded home ownership thus far, but perhaps in the future things will change.

Facing US life again is scary, I have to admit. Re-entry, a.k.a reverse culture shock, is always much worse than entering a foreign country. This being my second re-entry, as I was here ten years between missions, I know what to expect, and am not so hard on myself.

Still, thinking about a job in the USA is daunting.  One reason is that US jobs seem to require college degrees even when the position really has nothing to do with what one learns in college. Why don't I have a college degree? I refused to go into debt to go to college. After working my way partly through, in a minimum wage state, I decided that I liked to eat, more than I liked to go to college. I couldn't afford both. And frankly, I saw enough of college to realize I didn't need it.

In my first college English class we were given a test. The professor said that if we scored above a certain score, we could probably test out of the class. I scored 99% in the ninth stanine, which was the highest you could score. There was the result of good parental English models and years of reading. I dropped the class. I took a basic math class, since I didn't know where I was heading yet. It was a work-at-your-own-speed class. You did the work on your own, then took a test. I passed the semester class in three weeks, allowing me more time for other, more difficult classes as the semester went on.

The one class I took in college that has proven to be very worthwhile, was a typing class! I took that class twice, even though I passed it the first time, as I wanted to improve my speed. At that time, no one had home computers. We were still using electric (and even manual) typewriters. Knowing how to touch type has been a real timesaver in many ways. My job has required a lot of emailing and written correspondence, as well as writing up performance evaluations, and developing new materials, all of which required a lot of typing.

Personally, I think that more jobs ought to determine if a person is qualified by interviews and testing. There should be a lot more flexibility than there is currently. Why are young people being required to go into thousands of dollars of debt to land a job that in reality only uses high school level skills?

Speaking of high school, today's college has become like high school in my time, in many ways. When I was in high school, it was rare to find a person who had less than adequate reading skills, and most had decent writing and math skills as well. Not everyone knew advanced math, but basic math was a given. Today's college students are not always as qualified scholastically as yesterday's high school graduates.

Self education has always been important to me. Life fascinates me. When I was in high school, and even younger, it was rare that I passed a day without reading at least one book. More recently, I read fewer books and do more research, much of it internet based. This is because few (English) books were available to me in the country I lived in.

Life is interesting. I always want to know more. When a child came to our school who didn't ever want to look a person in the eye, I researched it, and found that it might be autism. I researched autism deeply, learning everything I could about it. This is the way I treat every subject that piques my interest.

My curiosity has not killed me, as it did the proverbial cat; rather it has moved me into the category of life-long learner. I have learned two languages pretty much on my own initiative, without formal schooling, and become fluent in both. (I'm thinking about a third! Languages are so much fun.)

I am a minor mac geek. This began when a nine year old taught me the basics, many years ago. My thirst for knowledge propelled me onward to learn more than the average, although less than the expert, computer user.

Technology is so fun to me. Sometimes people of my age are intimidated by new technology and fear it. Ipads and ipods, GPS systems etc. Fun. Enough said. But I do need a job that will pay for my new Mac every couple of years. :)

Boredom? I can remember when I was younger I would get bored. I cannot even imagine being bored in today's world, when there are so many interesting things available to do, to see, to learn. Perhaps being over fifty helps; time flies fast at this age.