SHOULD I PIONEER OR COLLEGE?

Do you think the WT has become more lenient or stricter over the year?. I am 21 and I remember just 4 years ago going to college was looked at as something negative. Girls my age, we had plans to be FT pioneers and become secretaries. So I never thought of going to school, picking a major or anything. I really did not know anything about college at all. Then we moved to atlanta and suddenly everyone is in school. I dunno if it was b/c the counsel on college was lightened or it was just because I was in a different area. I felt so out of place. I am 21 and in my freshman year! All the kids in my classes are fresh out of high school. Me? My major is still undeclared.  But I heard about that new article in the October WT that starts putting negative views on college again. Its like the society is wishy washy. They give you just enough rope but I think when they feel like everyone is taking more than there share they tighten it up again. Weird. And do you think its silly for me to be in school when I don't know exactly what I wanna do. Whoa! I tell the sisters and brothers that out in service and they look at me like I am crazy saying that I should be pioneering instead and then I can decide. But guess what? I was pioneering on and off for the past 3 years and I'm still undecided. I wasted all that time when by now I would at least on my way. What are you're views? I figure I should seek that advice of the older ones!

Im 38, and didnt go to college, cause the "end" was near.  So here I sit without anything!  Go To College!

Not going to college is the one thing I would go back and change if given the option to only make one different decision.

Go to school, and you learn about how to live in the world...you know...the place you have to work and make a living?

My post would be the same as Buttlights but Im 37 and male. Go to college and get a job to support yourself. They WTS isn't going to make your living for you, nor do anything else for you for that matter!!

Welcome to the forum stillAwitness.

I think if you read the articles in the Awake you will find that their stance on education is still as jaundiced as it has always been; they flip flop all over the place to try and suggest these things are your decision and a matter of conscience but in reality they dont agree with it full stop.

I think one reason is that it will take you away from a heavily controlled environment (a JW family) and or you will be taught to challenge, validate and to reason on not just one opinion.

In my view and in answer to your title question I would carry on with your education; even if you decide to run with your family and return to the meetings etc they will never be able to take away your education from you and you will have it to fall back on when you need it most.

Good luck and welcome.

DB74

Go to college and dont worry about not knowing exactly what to study, the very fact you are there is something and you are only 21, you have plenty of time to decide on your vocation,just learn as much as you can, I'm sure you will not regret it.

Honestly, I know what I'm talking about, I made a similar mistake to you in not persueing my education, I am now 25 and still wondering what I am going to do but whatever I decide it will involve going back to college or finding a career, no knocking on doors for sure.

A person's life circumstances are constantly changing, and not always for the better. It's best to get your education now, while you're young. It's MUCH harder when you reach middle age. I did it, and it was the hardest thing I ever had to do, but I was faced with the choice of re-educating or being disabled and unable to work.

The "pioneer service" will always be there, if that's really what you want. The opportunity to get a solid start to life won't always be there.

W

Its like the society is wishy washy.

Yes it is.

And do you think its silly for me to be in school when I don't know exactly what I wanna do.

No, not weird at all...I was almost 2 years into undergrad before I figured out what I wanted to do...and I was 25. I figure school is about taste testing in a way....you can try out different things in different classes. You can see what really intrests you and what you're good at. You're young and keep in mind that when I was in grad school there were people older than myself suddenly realizing that the department (subject/major) they were in wasn't right for them. People change and have the time to do so. Don't worry about it. If you choose something and it doesn't pan out you can find something else that will....And I'm not speaking as someone who has all the money in the world to change my mind...I just know there are ways.

definately college. For if you have an education, with that comes reason, and objectivity, traits frowned upon by the one-sided view of the Society.

Learn to live for yourself, and support yourself, you will release the real self within you if you do, trust me, i've been there, its lonely to start at the begining of this journey, but take heart, many of us have been there and survived, and are happier for it, plus richer materially :)

My recommendation:

Get out the WT CD, and do a search on articles related to education from the 60's 70's and early 80's. You will notice a few things:

-- The almost universal admionition was "avoid college at all costs"

-- The reason was, "this old system is almost over! The new system is right around the corner"

-- Getting a well-paying job in this "system of things" was at best a waste of time, since the end was so close.

Now think. You are 21 years old. Imagine that you had been born 30 years earlier, that you were 21 years old in 1975, not 2005. If you had followed that counsel, not gotten any more education, what position would you be in?

You'd be 51 years old, working a boring, unchallenging, dead-end job, 0 savings for retirement, 0 savings for your kids education. The society was wrong then. The new system was not "right around the corner". Why do you think they are right now?

The society will be saying "the end is going to be real soon now" for the next 100 years.

Get yourself an education, you will not regret it.

When I finished High School, I went to college for a couple of years.  I knew what I wanted to do.  The third year of college, which would have been my last, all of a sudden there was all kinds of pressure for me to quit and pioneer instead. I was supposed to do a hematology internship for 6 weeks with the Red Cross, and the Elders got into my business and told me I was taking a chance on being DFd if I went through with that internship.  Someone even orchestrated getting me a job with a company that was owned by a JW to lure me out of finishing.  So under all that pressure, and afraid of being DF'd, I quit college.  BIGGEST MISTAKE EVER.

Eventually I went back to college and took a 3-year Nursing Program.  It was a lot more difficult, because I had a family with small children at the time, but I have a job that I love now, and it was worth every bit of struggle to get that education.

Even if you just get a general arts or science degree, it is still to your benefit.  Learning is NEVER a waste.  You owe it to yourself to keep learning.  You were given a mind and talents - they were gifts and it would be a terrible waste to not find out what you were meant to be and become the person you were meant to be.  You will never regret having an education.

Whoa! You people work fast. I didn't think anyone was even gonna bother with my post. Thank you for all you're advice. I guess with the topic question it made it seem like I actually wanna pioneer instead of being in school. NO WAY! I try to avoid pioneering by all costs. I hate being in service! I have ever since I was a little girl. As far as college. Oh, I know that is where I need to be. I just feel silly sometimes because I am undeclared. I don't wanna waste more time and money. But it is a learning expierence so I can see now that its not so bad. I do love to write and plan on taking some creative writing classes next year. I was thinkin of a major is psychology and minor in criminal justie. I'd love to help with the rehabilitaion of prisoners one day but my mom gave me that look when I told her. HA HA, maybe i should do it just to piss her off and the elders.

do it now while you have no other responsibilities.  I went to college after being df'd and then divorced, since I had a full-time job I attended evening classes, most of the people there were older anyway so that wasn't a big deal, the hard part was having a 4 year old daughter on top of it...I was able to complete part of my freshman year until I just burned out.  Don't waste another moment, you will know in time what you want to study you're on the right path stay with it...and you are definetely not too old.

It's not too late to go to college.  If I were you, young and unimcumbered, I would take my butt down to the nearest college I liked and enroll.

I'm 28 and in my freshman year. My advice: stay in college. The WTS isn't going to pay your bills for you, and our society doesn't hold secretaries in high demand. You owe it to yourself to get a degree.

 

Go to college but don't waste your money or your time.  Know what you want to do with your schooling, get employment counseling so that when you come out at the other end, you will have many companies vying for your abilities.

Having worked in law enforcement and corrections, I would suggest using your counseling skills to help abused children.  Start at the source of the problem.

Welcome, Blondie

go to college.

Blondie? buttlight? My name isn't as cool as everyone else's on here

My name isn't as cool as everyone else's on here

Mine's under74...don't worry it's just a screen name.

My advice is to think about what you want to do with your education before you finish out your education at college. In our current climate potential employers look at more than a degree nowadays. Meet with a counselor and then take it from there.

- Preston