Why Should I Do an Apprenticeship?

What to do after high school? Find out what you want and what makes you happy. Give yourself time and don't put yourself under pressure. Because this decision shapes your career path and also has an enormous influence on your personal happiness...

[caption id="attachment_481" align="alignright" width="300"]Stressed out by the apprenticeship. Annoyed by the apprenticeship.[/caption]

Parental Advice

My parents seriously think I should complete an apprenticeship before college, and at a bank, of all places! They say it's something respectable and that I'd have something to fall back on. I don't want an apprenticeship! They just won't understand. I want to study philosophy because it interests me and I see my personal future in it. They say, though, that I can't do anything with that, and if I haven't done something solid beforehand, they won't pay for my college education!

Aimless After High School

Me in a suit every day as a banker. No way! My father is a director at a big bank and thinks his little boy should be pushed into his footsteps. By now I've got them to the point where they accept that I definitely see the degree program for myself. The only condition is this apprenticeship. I don't want an apprenticeship and first need a year off!

Time Away - the New Trend

They were completely shocked, but I was at least able to sell it to them as a way to broaden my horizons. That is, I'm going for a year to my uncle in L.A. and, in between, to my aunt in Australia. In each place I'll work in my relatives' businesses. After that we'll see!

Good reasons for an apprenticeship:

  1. First work experience.
  2. Knowing what you want or don't want!
  3. Personal development.
  4. Building new skills.
  5. Taking on responsibility for the first time.
  6. Character building
 

Apprenticeship - Count Me Out!

I'm playing for time! Once I've been away for a year, I want to enroll in college from there. My father's brother lives in Beverly Hills. Tons of money, and he understands me very well! I hope he can talk to my parents on the spot. They're coming over during the Christmas break when I'm there. He has good access to his twin brother. I really hope I can turn things around that way. He believes everyone should do in life what their heart tells them, and that in that moment everyone delivers their best performance.

Parents as the Driving Force Have No Chance

When I imagine doing an apprenticeship at my father's bank, everyone would act strange around me and handle me with kid gloves. I absolutely can't picture sitting in class with bank customers. It would be a complete waste of life. I could scream it out into the world every day: I don't want an apprenticeship!

But fine, in a few weeks I'm off to L.A. and the Hills, and I can finally breathe deeply. Sure, I'll pick up some jobs on the side, and that's a good thing!