COMMENTARY/You don’t need college, or do you?

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College is nothing but a piece of paper and a waste of four or six years. Many young people could be doing a lot more with their lives than just sitting down and hoping they can get that one job that they want.

But what if I told you that job that many young people are striving, draining themselves, crying and hoping and kicking for doesn't really come by education. To get that job, you need experience. The older generations can back me up on this.

I'm 20 years old and I am a 5-10 African American male. I attend the illustrious Claflin University. I didn't grow up having everything I wanted but I was granted the opportunity to get everything I need from both my parents. And I know I am lucky to be raised in a two-parent household.

I'm saying all this to say that no matter your background or story, you can always make it better. Before I went to college, I was a head cashier at Lowe’s. If you don’t know what that is, the head cashier usually runs the front of the store.

Will I tell you that college would make it better? NO. But studies do say, “While many factors contribute to income and wealth inequality, the role of education is a key piece of the puzzle.”

I agree somewhat that college is a steppingstone for most students. The one mistake that a lot of people told me going into college was that you need the education, or you need the college education. That to me is not true. You don't really need the education of college, you need the two most recent games you have played getting out of your comfort zone side of college. Networking helps with almost every major at any college when you get out. People learn quickly that it's not what you know, it's about who you know

Before you get the wrong idea, college does help with a lot of things, like getting to know the real world, problem-solving situations, who's your real friend and who isn't. And like I said before, it helps with networking. But if you're looking to get paid more with a college degree, studies say that it will help get you a better income if you're in the right major or minor.

It doesn't work for every major out there. For instance my major is business. There are a lot of things you can do with a business degree, but it will only help if you already have a prior work history in the business industry and that goes for a lot of other different majors and minors.

The other piece of the puzzle is how you work your money, and I know that's a sensitive subject for most people. But it is a conversion that needs to be had. When people get paid, their income usually goes to four different things. They are paying taxes, buying groceries, services, and savings. But why spend unnecessarily on things that will not help your money grow?

Some of the richest people never went to college, like Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Michael Dell, Zhou Qunfei, Steve Jobs, Richard Branson, Evan Williams. If they can do it, why can’t we? Those people didn’t have richg parents, they weren’t born with money, they had to struggle. They had to get up every morning and want to be better.

So my question to you is just because you couldn’t go to college, does that mean your book stops there? Or are you gonna keep going and just roll with the punches?

Kameron Mack is a Claflin rising junior majoring in business administration.