The Education System VS. The Skilled Trades

College, University, Medical and Law school. These were the things that were pushed upon us while going through the Ontario High school system. There's one big omission and if you read the title of this article you will know that omission is trades school. Why is this a taboo choice for the modern young adult? Is this the right decision by educators to steer the youth away from good old fashioned hard work? These questions and many more will be looked at in a different light. This will provide the insiders view to a modern day blue collar guy trying to make it in the white collar world.

I am a 27 year old male who has been in the trades for almost 7 years now. When it comes to welding, fitting, and fabricating if you can dream it I can make it. How did I end up this way? Well it sure wasn't on purpose. Going through school i was groomed to feel as though I would make it in the world of broadcasting. I have the ability to communicate with the varying degrees of humanity. From the swanky-est of swanky to the base-est of base I can in some way, shape, or form strike up a conversation of value. Upon completing high school and being accepted into a broadcasting course for college something didn't feel right to me. I loved the people I was studying with and enjoyed the hands on portion of the course but that's where it ended. For some reason I had to endure hours upon hours of lecture on how to react in situations, take notes, and pray to God that I retain the slightest bit of information come career time. Definitely not for me. With that in mind the decision was made, essentially drop out of college, pick up some extra shifts at work (I was a valet at the time), and redirect myself to something that would fulfill me.

It took me 2 years from that point to actually motivate myself into trades school. The scene at work (now a bellhop) was dismal. The money was good but there was no love for my work. The idea of going to welding school seemed more and more appealing each passing shift. So once again I made a decisive decision, I asked to go down to weekends only upon getting accepted into a local welding school. With a future uncertain family and friends boasted their concerns about such a drastic change. To be completely honest I had never been into much as far as manual labor was concerned. Nonetheless my mind was made up. I was going to be a welder. Sure enough once I started school I became in love with my new found abilities and trade. School went by in a flash. I was determined to make it and make it big (at one point i held over 12 government certifications). Getting work while being completely wet behind the ear was tough but it wasn't impossible. After some searching I was hired to a small shop. Looking back now it was one of the worst places I have worked but I needed to get my foot in the door somehow. After a month working there (maybe only did 2 shifts of actual welding) I was brought in the office and told i was being let go. That wasn't so bad, the part that angered me the most was how the boss man said that 'maybe this isn't your type of work.' I am completely fine with being let go from a job but don't you tell me what I can and cannot do. Hindsight though has showed me that his comments really lit a fire and drove me to learn fast and become as good as i can be. I'd like to bump into that guy one day and really thank him for his 3 and a half weeks of ban saw training and let him know how far I've come since then. That fire that was lit in me be some snide comments is the reason why I still do what I do.

Now that I'm in big industry I've started wondering, where are all the young guys? The ratio of old fellas to young bucks is staggering, and once you weed out the useless young guys its even more grim. I thought back to my high school days and really started to remember that no one really spoke of the trades with the importance that they actually carry. University this College that was the mantra. Fill the post secondary schools to the brim and let all those graduates fight over a slim amount of jobs. I have friends with business degrees working as salesmen in an electronics store. Is that what tens of thousands of dollars worth of education gets us? Instead why not preach the values and nobility of doing the things that most are too intimidated or scared to do. With skilled trades men gradually getting older, the baby boomers are getting closer and closer to retirement, we are facing a very serious issue here. Soon enough a large chunk of the skill labor needed will be severely under manned. Sure that's great for a guy in my position but the bigger picture is scary. Is it bad to encourage your kids to work with their hands? No. Is college and university the pre determined location for you? Definitely no. So when is the education system, as well as people in general, going to wake up and realize that the world is built by skilled laborers. Every office building has to get there somehow. Every ship or train that carries goods to the populous has to start out as raw materials at some point. We as a society need to embrace these things and nurture them. If we don't it will be like having too many chefs in the kitchen. Everyone will know what they want but nothing will get done.

This whole outlook is based on my experiences and that being said I am sure there are still places out there that are completely different to what I have seen, heard, and done. That being said this isn't a general over view of things across the board...just things where I live.