Instead of Going to College I Went to Work

I wanted to write, I just for some stupid reason didn’t see how it’d help me to get taught, especially since the thing I wanted to do was so far away from journalism, which if you ask me, you probably should study with somebody who knows what they’re talking about. I figured with writing fiction, it didn’t matter, it was this big ball of goo, it was a bunch of tubes of bright paint but if you did it wrong for half your life, no one would even care to tell you to stop. They’ll just let you flail around and occupy yourself. Novels aren’t life and death, they’re a distraction from death and probably life too, but you’re not going to ruin any one’s existence if your books suck or if your books never get published. I put on my boots that’ve shrunk in the rain and I walked through the metal turnstile, where I don’t have a desk or a list of answers about anything. I eat my lunch cold, surrounded by industrial hum, typing a novel slowly on my iPhone with my fat uneducated thumbs.

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Published on February 25, 2015 15:54
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message 1: by Tracy (new)

Tracy I did that too when I moved out at 17 in 1996. I wanted to work and travel and experience life. I worked in a lot of jobs from medical care to factories to IT, was unhappy and hit a wall when I faced a health crisis in 2006. Decided to go to college. It's taking a long time, but I'll get to the finish. Everyone should go where they need to. Sometimes college is not the right answer. Sometimes it is. I wouldn't trade my experiences though. I'm glad I put off college. You are not uneducated though! College is not the be-all-end-all to education. Libraries and online resources are free. Some of the greatest minds were autodidacts. Life experience is a great teacher too. Sometimes college can even hinder education when elitism, ego, and narrow-mindedness of faculty get in the way.


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Bud Smith

Bud  Smith
I'll post about what's going on. Links to short stories and poems as they appear online. Parties we throw in New York City. What kind of beer goes best with which kind of sex. You know, important brea ...more
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