Why College Is In Your Way

I don't see struggling investors everyday. Nor do I see successful investors everyday. But I know for a fact that there are plenty of people who are currently trying to invest while they're in college and are struggling because of college, me being one of those people. I decided to pursue investing during the summer after my first year of college. Now, with the second year just beginning, I have realized that college is in the way of the passion I want to pursue.

This bothers me. You see, college is the only idol when it comes to getting a good paying job, getting rich, and getting a proper education. That idol is introduced in the youth of life. This is not true. Sure, college can land you a great job, but what college does not give you is proper education on success and financial stability. This is ironic because college seems to be the powerhouse of education. 

I grew up in a stereotypical Asian household. "I'm going to become a rich doctor and buy you a nice car, dad. And a nice diamond necklace for you, mom!" I remember telling my parents that. With their hefty support, I continued to go to college years later without the same passion. Being a doctor was not something I wanted. I realized that I only wanted to be a doctor to make my parents proud. And now, I realize the same about college. 

As stated in my previous blog, college taught me that I am paying thousands of dollars to have multiple people teach me multiple subjects off of multiple books that costs multiple figures. College is an expense that graduated students have burdened on them. These students end up crawling the Earth rather than walking. According to the National Association of College Stores, it cost an average of 21.6 cents to produce a college textbook. So why in the world does it cost the students hundreds of dollars? 

It wasn't until my roommate told me during my first year of college that he wanted to pursue real estate that I decided to pursue it too. Financial freedom, passive income, how to buy a house... What more could I ask for?! Finally I am hearing about things I want to learn about. But how do I learn that? College was definitely not teaching me this and I wanted answers fast. So what do you do when you want answers? Grant Cardone says take massive action. I couldn't agree more.

I'm young and college is still more time consuming than ever. I had to start small unfortunately, but small is still something; I picked up books, more than I needed. I was picking up books before I had finished the current book I was reading. I was spending more money and time on books regarding real estate and business rather than college textbooks that I was required to read. I did my best to network with people and advertise myself just to learn more and more about real estate, sales, and anything business related. I was learning more by myself from these two hundred page books and people that I networked with compared to college. 

Are you seeing something yet? I noticed it immediately after I flipped the last page of the first book I read over. I had just educated myself on something I had a passion for; something college did not teach me at all. At the same time, I was on BiggerPockets daily hoping that I would see a notification that someone (of the plethora of people I reached out to) replied to my invitation for coffee. 

All this reading and networking could have been made easier If it wasn't for college. With my schedule being in school until 6 p.m. every other day and busy doing work the off days, It was difficult to make the time to meet up with these investors who were willing to teach me what I wanted to learn. I began to feel as though I was paying thousands of dollars just to have my education and opportunities taken away from me. 

That is how I am here today. I have been taking a couple of days off school and not attending class trying to educate and market myself. With this time, I was able to complete my goal of reading three business books for the month of September, network with three people or more by the end of September and I was even able to potentially secure myself a job at a Honda dealership. I realize now that college is a liability that is not only costing me money, but time and education as well. I could have spent my time in college educating myself for far cheaper. Maybe even for free. 

With that being said, if you're in the middle and you feel college is useful and useless, then take a minute to really think about what you plan on doing as a career. No doubt there is opportunity in college and education. But if it comes to things you'll have to learn about life such as taxes, handling money, and buying homes, then I do not believe college will be the best course of action. College is time consuming and is meant for consumers who want to place their careers on a piece of paper that says degree somewhere on it.