Who Is Mike Rowe?

My VIP for this week is Mike Rowe for his stand about attendance at universities. In his opinion and in mine, a university degree is not for everyone – meaning that not everyone can become a teacher, nurse, doctor, scientist, or any other career that needs university training. High school students should understand that there are other honorable and needed jobs/careers that do not require a university degree but which provides well for families. There is a great need in our world for people who know the trades of plumbing, carpentry, electrical, car mechanics, heating technicians, and so forth.

Another reason high school students should know that there is another path to success is that the cost of attending a university is astronomical and getting worse. According to an article written by Ethan Xu, “Some families are paying upward of $90,000 a school year at some private universities, and graduates face sky-high payments on their student loans.” 

While some conservatives have argued that it’s time to abandon the four-year university and to invest in the trades, others think college is still beneficial for some. And some even want young conservatives to attend elite universities in hopes of reclaiming America’s institutions.

Rowe, Emmy Award-winning TV host, producer, author, and CEO of the MikeroweWORKS Foundation, discussed the state of higher education in America with James Poulos.

Even though more young Americans are attending college at unprecedented rates, Rowe thinks Americans are “overeducated but I also think conversely, or maybe perversely … underinformed.”

“I feel like we know a lot of things that we don’t necessarily do anything with. And the things we ought to know we don’t have at our ready disposal,” said Rowe. “No one talks about the fact that 41% of people who start don’t graduate. Like 85% of people who do graduate wind up not working in their chosen field.”

Rowe believes that college is not the best option for many young Americans. However, the idea of going to college has been ingrained into the minds of almost all Americans by society, so many families do not know what the other options are. “There are just so many things about the primacy of a 4-year transaction that don’t get laid out honestly and so parents and kids unfortunately have never, at least in my lifetime I think, had an honest chance to look at all the options,” argued Rowe.

All six of my children and five of their spouses are college graduates, and most of them have graduate degrees. My son is an emergency room doctor but makes more money with a blog and his associated business than in emergency medicine, but he still loves to work in the ER to help people and to stay current with his skills. He now employs fifteen or more people in his blog business, including two of his sisters.

One sister has a master’s degree in social work, and the other sister is a Doctor of Physical Therapy. Both of them make more money working for their brother than they would in their field of training. However, all three of them use their degrees in numerous ways, such as serving other people or in their current jobs. Another daughter is a registered nurse and recently received certification as an emergency medical technician (EMT).

As stated above, I agree with Rowe that not everyone should go to a university. However, I believe that every single adult should embark on life-long learning. Whether or not a person has a university degree or graduate degree, he or she should continue learning. There are many ways that a person can gain helpful information on the internet, such as on YouTube. My husband and I often consult Dr. Google to gain better understanding about medical matters.

There are many how-to books on the market about numerous information. There are diverse types of classes that a person can take from cooking classes to quilting classes to gardening classes to carpentry classes to family history classes. Whatever one’s interests, each person should continue learning no matter their choice in a job or career.