Jump to content
SASS Wire Forum

37-year-old Single Mom Earns $73,000 Without a College Degree


Recommended Posts

I did some tower work for a state radio tech.

Hardest part was trusting the equipment.

Once I was able to trust the belt and work with both hands, I was fine.

Caveat --

I was also much younger, and at that stage of my young life, utterly without my married man's *ahem* "Equatorial Bulge" *ahem* ...

(insert innocent expression here)

(been practicing that innocent expression for just shy of 70 years. It hasn't worked yet but I'm still trying!)

  • Haha 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The pushing/promoting/selling the idea that you can't get a good job with good pay without a college degree started in the 60's. HS graduates have been told you need to go to college. It will cost you $$$$$ but its worth it.  I read somewhere 40% of college graduates end up not working in their field of study.

 

You can go to trade school, get paid, and start a creer in 1 year earning what she's earning. Great benefits, reiirement etc. And a hige demand for trade workers.

While there is no demand for someone with a degree in women's studies, gender studies, etc, actual degrees. 

  • Like 4
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good for her. That climb up the tower everyday will keep her in top shape. I did a lot of tower climbing in my two way radio days but few were that high and she does it every day.

  • Like 3
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

My oldest grandson starts an apprenticeship in steam fitting next week. He’s worked jobs in warehouses and medical offices to support himself and got nowhere.  
 

He started watching me welding and fabricating and became intrigued.  When he asked me about it, I told him that he should seek an interview for an internship with the steam fitters because they are in demand and make really good money.

 

 

Edited by Blackwater 53393
  • Thanks 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, irish ike, SASS #43615 said:

The pushing/promoting/selling the idea that you can't get a good job with good pay without a college degree started in the 60's. HS graduates have been told you need to go to college. It will cost you $$$$$ but its worth it.  I read somewhere 40% of college graduates end up not working in their field of study.

 

You can go to trade school, get paid, and start a creer in 1 year earning what she's earning. Great benefits, reiirement etc. And a hige demand for trade workers.

While there is no demand for someone with a degree in women's studies, gender studies, etc, actual degrees. 

I got a college degree because my parents were both school teachers and I just figured I would be, too.

 

First four years after I graduated I was an Army Ordnance officer.  Got out and stayed in the reserves and taught school for one year. (I hadn't stayed in school to renew it past the initial five years).

 

Went to the big yellow construction equipment maker, lasted a year and quit over some issues with the union

 

Joined the Marines for six years and did very well there, but it almost cost me my marriage so I became a civilian again.

 

Got a job with McDonnell Douglass and, because I had a degree, they put me in some very impressive places.  Didn't save me though when the company didn't get a contract to build a cargo plane.

 

Got another very nice position in an aerospace company that had just been bought  by an earth mover company.  They took the treasury and sold off some patents.  Within about 19 months The Prince of Darkness out of England bought us out and about a month and a half later I was laid off.  Got my revenge a few years later, but that's a story for another time.

 

Spent a few years going from job to job and a friend talked me into taking the new California C-BEST test.  (I used to know what that was).  I  happened to be in the first group tested  in a college in Claremont CA.  I almost maxed the test (told I wa s way ahead of anyone else who took it that first week.) and was offered a job as a temp / substitute teacher before I got to my car.  Within a half year a I was rehired as a full time Junior High teacher...six periods a day, one prep period, three Consumer Math, and one Human Sexuality.  Another story for another time. 

 

Four years later, after some negative instances with the teachers' union I was back to job hopping and another (after another stint as instructor in a small private business college and becoming the Director of Academics (DOA _ Very appropriate) and the boss's daughter taking over the reins and almost overnight bankrupting the company at which time I jumped ship) and four years found me being a State and Federal licensed representative for a tiny insurance company which, only two months later, bought a huge insurance and investment company and we took the red umbrella for our own.  I did very well at that for eleven years when the market crashed and people that I had schooled on how to handle their money didn't believe in me any more (most stuck it out and thrived when the market came back), but wasn't fun any more.

 

The degree cut some corners for me, but aside from the teaching jobs, I could have done it without a degree.

 

I retired at 58 years old, sold my share of the business to three business partners, and never looked back.

Edited by Forty Rod SASS 3935
  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I played drums in a band out of high school and actually made a decent living doing it 5-6 nights a week in various clubs. I also taught drums privately. After years of playing and teaching I went to college to pursue a music education degree I was 36. I lasted one year and got into piano tuning and repair studying privately with a very good tuner/technician, I’ve been doing it ever since. Now I’m semi retired and still tuning on a part time basis.

Yes, there’s many ways to make a living without college. I applaud this lady!

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.