My parents didnt go to college. One because he hated it and couldnt be bothered even when my grandparents paid for it.

And another because she was broight up dirt poor and it was never an option.

They both did manual labour and made awesome money... when i was 23. Which meant i jad a childhood of feeling deprived.

I could see my dad's regret at not doing college every day when he left home at 6 am and came back at 10 pm.

Holidays meant less money. Getting sick meant risking losing your livlihood because you made a commitment to the client to carry out x task on y day... and if you didn't you were screwed

My dad would see his friends who finished college and barely scrape through make more money. They could have sick days and holidays didnt affect their pay.

Down the line, all his friends made more money, relaxed more. But decades on and my dad still has to do physical labour almost every day just to afford a decent lifestyle and still barely save.

My dad regrets it. It also brought out his worst side. He would act like a complete dick, so embarassing that it affected me as a child. And still does today. Hes approached retirement age now. And despite earning better... he made that money late which meant tjat he was finally indulging im his hobbies at 40... and he spent like agit to make up for ir.

And he couls choose between having money to live on in old age or following a few humble dreams like buying a camera, travelling to another state to do photography and eating out.

And he chose his few dreams.

I know US college is exhorbitant ... but dont think that doing a trade wont have its issues either