This needs some background. I'm in the electrical program at the Passaic County vo-tech, and I'm good at it. My parents are both accountants in Wayne and they want me to go to a four-year college. They're not mean about it, they just think trades are what you do if college doesn't work out.
I want to apply to an apprenticeship and work. I've tried explaining, but I end up sounding like a kid who doesn't want to study. How did any of you have this conversation with your parents? What actually convinced them, if anything did?
I'm writing this from the Wawa parking lot on Hamburg Turnpike because I didn't want to have this argument again tonight.
Vo-tech instructor, plumbing & HVAC · 28 years · Passaic County, NJ
Mentor
I have this conversation with parents every semester at open house. First, show them a plan, not a feeling: the apprenticeship, the school hours, the pay scale, the license at the end. Accountants love a plan. Second, point out that apprentices are generally paid while they train, which a lot of parents don't realize. Third, invite them to talk to someone in the trade. Ask me how I know that last one works.
Electrical Contractor · 22 years · Monmouth County, NJ
Mentor
Honestly my parents wanted college too. What changed it was my first paycheck, and then my second year when I was already ahead of my cousin who had loans. I'm not saying college is bad. I'm saying show them the numbers and give it a year.
I've got a version of this with my grandmother, who thinks electricians are 'just labor,' and what finally got her was when I fixed the hallway light that two handymen couldn't figure out, and I explained how a three-way works while I did it, which is maybe a lot, but she stopped saying 'just labor.'
my parents were the opposite lol, they were happy I wasn't going to college. but my foreman (well, my uncle) told my mom about the pension stuff and that's what she cared about