I need some good old fashioned advice from someone completely objective...?

Question

I can't really ask my friends and family because I know what some of their responses will be.
Here's the deal: I would like to return to school for early childhood ed. I had planned on going to the same school my brother went to, that offers a 4-year bachelor's program. It's on the other end of the state, 2 hours away.
I just spoke with someone opening a daycare/preschool facility and he basically offered me a position there, telling me that I would just need to take a few classes to be EEC certified to work here in the state. There is a community college here in town that offers that class, which is child development.
So here's my dilemma: do I stay here in town, where I pretty much have this job guaranteed in Sept., maybe earlier, and take a sort of easier way out? I'll have an instant job that's well-paid with the possibility of benefits. Or do I move 2 hours away to get a full on degree where my bro wants me to go?
Either way, I would have to quit my full-time job...
Some advice?

Answer 1

You need to weigh up the pros and cons of the situation.

If I were you , my major concern for staying and taking the easy way out would be future employment. Will all employers have the same attitude that he has and still offer you a job with the studies behind it?

Something to think about.

Answer 2

Take the local job. You answered this yourself because you said "Or do I move 2 hours away to get a full on degree where my bro wants me to go?"

Why do what he wants? Why have the expense of college, moving and all the inconvenience that comes with it? Lets face facts here as well just to be objective

If you take the 4 years bachelors program, chances are you will be on a good wage when you get out. Probably better than what you are being offered now. But in 4 years, how much will you earn working at this local job? You will receive pay rises, and more importantly hands on experience. This is worth more than paper to most employers, as it verifies you know what you are doing.

Also it is not the easy way out. You still need to go to college, pass some certificates etc. before you can take the job. You take the gamble that the job may not be there in September, and you may be stuck in your crappy job.

Whats more is that you know the area you are in. I bet you have friends there too, possibly a partner and family. You are obviously happy in your little area to consider taking another job there. Why move when you are happy?

Finally going back to school is a big step, especially if you have not been there in a while. You have to get back into the routine of study, you will be older than many student (i am sure because you are returning, and this is an uncomfortable position to be in (I know I have done it). Courses on the other hand are very different (done them too). Most times you can do them at night, meaning you can keep your day job and support yourself for a while. Typically the workload is dramatically less, which is good, and you are able to push through the material at your own pace in most cases (mainly due to slightly less strict deadlines).

Finally, it is your life. Not your brothers, employers, friends or family. Too many times people make the wrong choice because their family wanted it - my self included. Don't take my word on staying in town. Take as many as you can get. Ring the daycare center guy again, and tell him you are interested and ask his opinion on moving or staying. Yahoo! Answers is a great medium for this, and you will make the right choice in the end. Stick to your guns, and even if you make the wrong choice, at least it was an educated, well thought out one that can be useful in the future (who knows your EEC classes may actually credit you a full year of study at college).

Good luck and honestly you will do the right thing - just go with your gut.

Answer 3

This is a pretty big decision to be asking a bunch of yahoos who waste their time on the web (yes, this includes me) but I guess when your heart tells you one thing and your mind another it is easy to grasp at straws.

I’m over 50 and just last summer received my Bachelor degree, a lifelong ambition accomplished. It hasn’t helped me a bit. Of course I’m white and a man. If I had stayed in college the first (or even the second time I attended) my life would have been a whole lot easier. But I didn’t. I worked construction, heck; I could, and did make $20 an hour running heavy equipment. My friends on the other hand struggled through school working at Arbys and McDonalds for less than $2 an hour (ok, it was a long time ago). Even after they graduated I was making more money than they were, what a bunch of saps.

I was injured some 20 odd years ago and through the grace of God and the charity of Vocational Rehab I went on to get an AS degree in electronics. With that I moved into the semiconductor manufacturing industry as a technician. I was able to do that for about 10 years but most of manufacturing started moving overseas in the early 2000 and I, along with most of my fellow workers, lost their jobs.

I begged my way into an administrative and then management position where I worked until my job, again, went overseas 2 years ago. I finished my BSBA, graduated Magna *** Laude but have been unable to find work, manly because most companies only have minority openings.

What is the moral of this long-winded story? Don’t be a sap! I know that you are young and feel as though you will have the rest of your life to get your degree but if you have a chance, do it now. Had I continued on instead of taking the easy way out when I was 20 I’d probably be one of those fat a**holes that you see scarfing up everything, voting Republican and looking down my nose at the other 90% instead of stressing over how to pay my mortgage.

If you have any inclination at all to go to school, do it and do it now. If you are going to half-a** it, work and go to VoTech, save yourself some grief and just forget the school. Find some rich kid and tie him down with a couple of babies. Sounds harsh but if you only knew how silly your decision sounds, you would never have asked it.

Really, if you want to get your degree and have some control over your life, bite the bullet and go to a proper 4-year college. If you don’t really have any desire to go to school then just forget it and find the best job you can.

I sincerely hope this helps. If I could only go back 30 years.

Answer 4

This is a no brainer....get the four year degree while you have the chance. The College degree is money in the bank for the rest of your life. People with degrees make so much more and have so many more opportunities over the course of their lifetime. Don't just compare the preschool salary with a job you might get in Early Childhood Development. I know a teacher who taught elementary school for eight years at roughly 22k a year, then got involved in entry level professional sales, after ten years and several promotions she flies all over the country and makes way into six figures. This is the kind of flexibility that a degree will give you.

Answer 5

If you can get the same degree here in town, I'd say stick around and work.
I know you can use the money, LOL. Everybody needs it!!

But if you have to go away to get the full degree, that might be a problem.

The question is what do you want? If you want the full degree, then the answer is obvious.

But if you want to take some courses here and work and make some $, you could do that and later go to finish up for the full degree later? Is this a possibility?

Good luck!!

Answer 6

Listen to your head.Do what you want to do.You will only end up with regrets if you don't. I know it is hard to say no to family but if you want to really stay where you are than do that. I know if I could get an education and have a great job after than I would choose that. You have to do what best for you financially as well. Do you think you will still get the job after you finish school at the college 2 hours away or will it be a missed opportunity. If you like where you live and there is a better opportunity for your future than I suggest you stay where you are. You can always go to the other college if you change your mind.

Answer 7

sounds like the person opening the facility thinks you have some needed talent. if the job is yours, it should be yours after you graduate with a degree that states you have talent. a job is a job and it will last for a short period of time. an education is something they can never take away from you and lasts a lifetime. once you get that early childhood ed degree, you can see if the job is still there. if not, you might open your own daycare/preschool facility. good luck.

Answer 8

Alright, for starters, take your brother out of the equation.....this should be about what you want to do, not him, or anybody else.

Let's see here....you have an offer of a position in the field that you ultimately want to work in anyway, without having to spend four years in college.......think of it like this: between your classes at the community college and the practical knowledge you'll get working at the daycare, you will be carrying a full-time four-year college schedule!!!

Let me present it to you in another way. I want to be an opera singer, and I intend to attend a 4-yr. college to get a degree in vocal performance. On my way to sign up, I meet someone on the subway who works at a local performing auditorium. This person makes a phone call to the music director, gets me an appointment right away; that person hears me sing for five minutes, and offers me a job in the chorus, with an opportunity to audition for leads.
Now, this might not be the same circumstances as yours, but it's the same principle. Someone is offering you a chance to educate yourself in your field of choice, with salary and benefits. The choice is pretty clear to me.

Additional: A degree speaks very loudly on a resume, BUT in some cases experience speaks much louder. ESPECIALLY if you stay in the same field and don't develop a habit of changing jobs too often. Be consistent.

Hope this gives you another perspective. Good luck.

Answer 9

OK, there are things to consider.Sometimes in life you can secure a position that pays well because you have the experience. The advantage of having a degree is to "get" the job in the first place. What you need to know is how much money you can make with the experience vs the degree.

Answer 10

If the job in town is for sure, then you should probably go with that and take the community college course. Even if you go back to get your bachelor, you may well be doing the same kind of job with the same kind of pay as you would have been getting at the job you might get now. Haha that sentence was so bad.