My resignation letter, a little late. Sorry.

I resign from the notion that I have to go to college. It’s a weird thought, considering that many people in the world never even get the chance to go to high school, or any school. But in our society, and in my family especially, you really don’t have a choice. It’s not that I don’t want to go to college; trust me, I do. I love it here. But I really wish that I would have had the choice not to, without being ostracized by my family and turned into an outcast. Every member of my family (well, on my mom’s side anyways) went to college, even my grandmother and grandpa, who grew up during the depression. All my aunts and uncles, and all my cousins, either graduated from college or are there right now. I just wish that I could have had the opportunity not to go, without disappointing anyone and everyone. The main reason for this, for me at least, was because I seriously considered enlisting in the Army straight out of high school. Had I done that, I would currently be about halfway through my training for a job that would have sustained me for the rest of my life if I had wanted it to. No more mindless education, no more taking classes that probably will have no relevance to what I actually choose to do with my life (I’m either going to be career Army, a police officer, or a firefighter, and there’s no classes to prepare me to be a firefighter). But when I mentioned enlisting to my parents, it didn’t even warrant a response. It was just ignored. And this angers me. Why must I go to college? Both my parents went to college, my mom even got a master’s degree, and was it worth it? In my opinion, not really, considering that we ended up in the lower income bracket anyway. For most of my friends back home, one of their parents made more than both of my parents combined, sometimes even doubling or tripling what they made. The tuition to this university, along with room and board, almost reaches what my parents make combined. Considering that a police officer with just a high school diploma can, with hard work and a few promotions, make as much as my parents, it really turns me off on the whole college thing. As I said, I want to go to college, I want to be here, but I like to be able to keep my options open. I’m just that kind of person. I want to have more than one choice, I don’t just want to be forced into doing something I may not be ready for. Maybe I should have enlisted for a few years, and then come to college. Maybe I’d appreciate it more then. My problem now is, I didn’t ever get that choice. It was college or bust for me. My parents might as well have written it on my freaking door.