Graduating High School? Learn a Trade

By: Carter Hall

College may seem like the obvious next step to take after graduating high school, but many young adults are choosing different paths, that are equally, if not more, viable. These alternative paths provide people with an opportunity to join the workforce young and earn a good living while doing so.

Vocational schools often go overlooked by high school students looking to further their education. A vocational school is an institution that teaches their students valuable skills that will help them in a particular field of work.

These schools usually focus on a specific field of work like welding, electricity, plumbing and much more. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, vocational schools are less time consuming, usually being only two years, and often cost less than traditional universities.

For many young adults, it seems beneficial to consider different educational paths than traditional universities in order to save money and enter the work force when they see fit. Here are the stories of two young men who took these paths.

Grant Fries

Grant Fries is a 21-year-old man from Atlanta, Georgia, who is about to graduate from welding school and start a career. This was not always his plan though.

Grant Fries. Photo contributed by: Grant Fries.

After he graduated from high school, Fries decided to do what most kids at his school were doing, go to college. Fries would go to Auburn University and spend a year enrolled as a student. While at Auburn, Fries went to class, made friends and even joined a fraternity. Although he enjoyed his time, Grant said that the most important thing he learned was “I don’t want to be in an office. I want to be out in the field. So, I jumped right into it.”

With a little experience he gained while working on his Jeep, Fries found himself naturally interested in welding. With this in mind, he enrolled into welding school in 2020, right outside of Atlanta, Georgia.

According to Fries, welding school is cheaper, faster and much more hands on than traditional colleges are. While enrolled, he has had many opportunities to help work on actual jobs and begin making money from his craft.

Soon, he said, he will be able to take on any job he wants and will be able to start his career with multiple different companies who are always looking for help.

Paul Miller

Paul Miller, 20, from Alpharetta, Georgia, also decided that he was going to blaze his own path. Right after high school graduation, Miller knew that he did not want to go to traditional university.

“I just realized what a lot of successful people around me had done, and a lot of them had built a lot of capital through different ventures when they were younger,” Miller said.

Right now, his biggest focus is making money while he is still young through different jobs. He has been an HVAC certified technician for over a year now and makes money through sub-contracts from general contractors. He says this is nice because he doesn’t have to work all the time, but he is still able to make good money.

Miller often does work for family and friends because he is able to give them better prices than local big businesses are able to offer, while giving them just as good of service, if not better. His clientele has reached further than just friends and family, as people learn about his services through word of mouth.

With his earnings, Miller has been able to build a brand and find even more outlets to make money. Using funds gained while working as an HVAC sub-contractor, he has started an apparel company, “Foreign Feugo LLC”.

Paul Miller (Right). Picture Contributed By: Paul Miller.

This company sells original clothing designed by Miller and is always looking to help other companies fulfill any apparel needs they have. Miller has invested in his own t-shirt presses and is always looking for an excuse to use them. “I’ve done custom orders for everything, from Orange Therapy Fitness to your local landscaping company.”

Miller has not completely ruled out the idea of earning a college degree, but right now he seems to be enjoying the freedom of building his own future. “I just realized that I could accomplish college at a later time in life and could use this time now to build capital and start creating different resources for myself.”

Miller’s unique perspective has provided him with a budding business and an opportunity to make it as a young entrepreneur in a world. He said that he is hoping to prove that “not everyone needs to go to college to be successful. There are plenty of ways to build a career and make connections when you are young.”