What Should I Do After High School?: College vs. Community College, and Your Other Options

High school graduation is great. You’ve spent the last decade-plus of your life in school, and now you need to decide what to do with the rest of your life, in a world even the savviest of adults are struggling to navigate.

As a millennial, I remember discussing with my friends our plans, and almost a decade later, I’ve seen where our plans lead us, and the results are stark: many of my classmates are dead from a combination of overdoses and despair, some of us have seen success in the unlikeliest of places, and most everyone else is somewhere in between. It also helps that I have worked closely with many hiring employers in my career.

All this to say, I’ve seen the real world, and I know what it’s like. Here’s what I’ve learned:

1. Debt: Debt is bad, and it can stop you from living your life to the fullest for decades. As it stands right now, you cannot declare bankruptcy from student debt. You need to make sure your debt levels are manageable.
2. Education: You DO need an education, but you have a lot of options. Employers do not want to hire unskilled workers. You will struggle to make a decent income if you do not invest in some kind of education.
3. Drugs: Hard drugs will ruin your life. “Soft”…