Best Life Plan

{This is MC's poll, reposted by me, due to some technical difficulty.}

If you were giving advice to a kid who just graduated and wanted to live a life with most/best skiing possible, which would you tell him?

Move to a ski town right after high school and try to make it work

Go to college near a ski area, ski bum for a few years after college, weekend warrior after that

Go to college, save your money, weekend warrior until you can afford to move to a ski town

Move to a Ski City like SLC, Denver, or Burlington that has colleges, jobs, and lots of skiing opportunities

Squat on National Forest Service land, camp, tour & ski for free

Other (explain)

This poll is closed.   

This poll ended on .

Haha great thread title!

I would take a year or two off DURING college to ski bum.  Then graduate.

(My best buddies from high school did it at Steamboat, my parents said they wouldn't pay for college if I did that so I didn't).

After college I moved home because I didn't have a job. Maybe I'd still do that, but I'd start looking for work in an {eastern} urban/suburban area that was closer to the mountains than I am now, Capital District, Burlington (if possible), or Hudson Valley.

Then I'd go full on Mr Money Mustache and retire as early as I could.

It's not that different that what I did, except I didn't know I loved skiing until I was almost 50 years old, so I was pretty entrenched.

I voted other.  My advice would be a combination of options 2 and 4.  Go to college near a ski area, then move to a ski city that has jobs and lots of skiing opportunities.

I guess one of the things I was thinking about was the cost of college these days.

With the amount of loans that kids need to take out, it might be better to skip college all together and just start pounding nails, building 2nd, 3rd & 4th homes for rich people in ski towns.

And I think the "go to college, but then go to a city so you can get a good job" thing is part of that. Tough to pay off $70,000 in student loans by pounding nails while you're trying to pay high ski town rents. But if you have a decent job in the city, then $70k is no big deal, I guess?

If college was free (especially if you get a ski racing scholarship), sure, go to college. Some people I know needed communications degrees to get $25,000/yr jobs as social media coordinators for ski areas.

I vascillate between #1 and #4 if I'm giving advice, even as I try to live #3.

It’s pretty easy to tell someone else’s kid to follow their heart but when it’s your own, well we want what we think is best for them.

I tell my daughter to get some school done first but she’s gonna do what ever she wants to and I’ll support her no matter what. I want her to have more opportunity than I’ve had so I do my best to give her confidence. I guess we are what we are and unfortunately money doesn’t drive me in any way and that makes life difficult. That whole 9 to 5 day in day out stuff scares the crap out of me.  I hope she isn’t the same.

Ski every day, bartend at night, meet all the rich, sell real estate.

raisingarizona wrote

It’s pretty easy to tell someone else’s kid to follow their heart but when it’s your own, well we want what we think is best for them.

This is very true. What I would want for my kid is different then things I would do differently if I did it over again myself.

Why are the skilled trades Electrician Pipe fitter Welder ...  given  not given more exposure to offer as a career choice option to earn a descent middle class living . Work construction jobs shutdowns fast track jobs in the summer earn that money working OT. Collect 580 bucks unemployment  a week ,hit the slopes for three Winter months. That why I voted other. I have a business degree but make way more bread as a Union Electrician.

Brownski wrote

raisingarizona wrote

It’s pretty easy to tell someone else’s kid to follow their heart but when it’s your own, well we want what we think is best for them.

This is very true. What I would want for my kid is different then things I would do differently if I did it over again myself.

It would be fun to answer the question 3 times, then:
1. What would you do if you were the 18 year old kid?
2. What advice would you give your kid?
3. What advice would you give an acquaintance (cousin's kid who loves snowboarding, coworker's son who is really into skiing, etc.)?

Gunny J wrote

Why are the skilled trades Electrician Pipe fitter Welder ...  given  not given more exposure to offer as a career choice option to earn a descent middle class living . Work construction jobs shutdowns fast track jobs in the summer earn that money working OT. Collect 580 bucks unemployment  a week ,hit the slopes for three Winter months. That why I voted other. I have a business degree but make way more bread as a Union Electrician.

This is a good option that I should have added:

• Work all summer making as much as you can while living as cheaply as possible, get a ski town job (or not) & housing around October/November, stay till April, repeat indefinitely.

Gunny J + 1

I’m not sure either of my boys has the aptitude to be a plumber/electrician/welder/other trade.  If they did I’d have no problem with that.  Yeah, college is expensive, and sometimes degrees go unused.  However, I’m not afraid to have my kids go down the professional road.  I’ll always be an education (college or trade school) and work (your ass off) first guy, for a variety of reasons that would surely be a shit show if we discussed, so I’ll pass on doing so.  I am happy to have set that example for my kids.  We’ll see where they end up.  My daughter has been extremely successful through her college career and will thrive, and I’m sure my boys will as well.

I do think the title of this poll is flawed.  It should be Best Skiing Life Plan.  Of course, we know there are a variety of opinions on what makes for the “best life”, if such a thing can even be defined.  For some it’s more skiing or whatever, for others it’s career, family, security, for most it’s pursuing some degree of work-life balance.....

"If you were giving advice to a kid who just graduated and wanted to live a life with most/best skiing possible, which would you tell him?"

I would tell him/her that there's more to life than skiing.

That said if the kid was hell bent on going my advise would to do it while your young and never look back. Moreover enjoy every second of it. I know I did.

After a little more thought, if a kid really had the skills and the temperament.....I’d say get a degree from Plattsburgh (or other school with a similar program) in Expeditionary Studies and then make Guiding your job.  Ski guide in the winter, climbing (or other) guide in the summer.  A bunch of people I’ve met in my skiing travels that do that have a little harder time setting down roots (because they may spend different seasons in different locations), but it’s a viable living being in the outdoors doing what you love.

I would just never be comfortable for myself or those I might advise to wing it on the career front to facilitate skiing.....

My vote is other. I cannot give advice without speaking to the person who needs the advice.

x10003q wrote

My vote is other. I cannot give advice without speaking to the person who needs the advice.

Why don't we say this kid was some version of 18-year old me: really into skiing, reads ski magazines, watches ski movies, was in ski club and on ski team in high school (but doesn't want to race in college, just wants to ski), was accepted to SLU, UVM and some other places. Looking at the cost of college, and trying to set up his life in a way that will provide for a good life, but also allow for lots of skiing in cool places.

Yes camp, obviously there is more to life than skiing, but if I said "what advice would you give a kid who wanted to move to Virgil, NY, own land, get a girlfriend & some dogs, and eventually buy an $11,000 snowmobile?" someone could argue there's more to life than that, too (but it seems to be working okay for you).

I would add that there is more to college than money, both the insane cost and the potential to earn more.

I loved college.  I majored in art and economics and love those topics. I like pyschology and geology and art history.  (I admit I used to take naps in art history, but when I was awake I liked it.)

Plus I learned how to write and be a photographer, which obviously I like too.

For me college was a great experience. A bit of a bubble for sure, but I'm glad I went, and thankful to my folks for coughing up the dough.

I'll also add that in general people we hire really can't write. Most have been to college so there is that.

And... one more thing. No one has ever seen my college transcript, or even asked for proof that I went to college.

MC2 5678F589 wrote

Why don't we say this kid was some version of 18-year old me: really into skiing, reads ski magazines, watches ski movies, was in ski club and on ski team in high school (but doesn't want to race in college, just wants to ski), was accepted to SLU, UVM and some other places. Looking at the cost of college, and trying to set up his life in a way that will provide for a good life, but also allow for lots of skiing in cool places.

Still need more data. What’s the kid’s actual cost of attendance gonna be after merit aid? What is the parents’ fafsa efc? Who is paying? Mom and dad? Or future self?

MC2 5678F589 wrote

 
Why don't we say this kid was some version of 18-year old me: really into skiing, reads ski magazines, watches ski movies, was in ski club and on ski team in high school (but doesn't want to race in college, just wants to ski), was accepted to SLU, UVM and some other places. Looking at the cost of college, and trying to set up his life in a way that will provide for a good life, but also allow for lots of skiing in cool places.
 

That's a totally different question

I agree with you Harvey, the college experience can really help an individual grow and understand the larger world around them, through the study of the arts, humanities, etc., combined with a wide range of experiences.  I’m a big fan of liberal arts colleges.  Perhaps the same happens if someone forgoes those experiences and just jumps into ski bumming or the workforce somewhere straight out of HS, I really don’t know.  

While I do think the ultimate goal of a college education is to get a degree that will get you a job, there is a lot to be said for the personal growth achieved through academics in getting to that point.  Frankly, unless you are a STEM person or looking to get into something like investment banking or public accounting, the most valuable thing I think one gets out of a college education isn’t the subject matter knowledge itself, but a better understanding of the world around them, the ability to communicate well, the ability to take on and thrive in new, different, and challenging situations, and the ability to translate how all of those things combine with your internship and work experiences to make you a good fit for a particular job.  Yes, all that has to be backed up with good subject matter knowledge, but the right candidate can learn a lot of what they need to know on the job.

As I’ve told my kids, college is about much more than what you learn, it’s about the challenges you take on and the diverse experiences you have, and how you are able to relate those to other people.  When I interview people the degree they have and where they got it from is much less important than the life and work experiences they have had, and how they can relate those to the role I’m filling.