"Don't wish your life away"

I'm not wishing my life away, anonymous-person-who-is-older-than-me. I just want to be out of college. And yes, I can hear you, person-who-still-wishes-for-college-life. I know you're saying that "college is the best time of your life". College is pretty great, but all I have to say is, I sure hope not. I hope the best time in my life is when I have finally reached the goals I have set, one of which is to graduate. I look forward to not having to worry about my freaking GPA for a change. All I have done my whole life is school. I will always "do" school though, since I plan to be a high school English teacher, but I'm ready to be the one grading. I'm excited to have my own house, start a family, and live for my family and not for school. My priorities have changed over the years. At some point my tunnel vision for school dissolved and I was able to see the landscape of life around me.

Now don't get me wrong; I love learning. I'm a fan of school and being educated, but I don't understand why years and years of education are required to get a job now. I'm sure it has to do with the economy, but even before the economy started its downward slope, "college," as one of my friends worded it, "has become the new high school and grad school is the new college".

Wouldn't it make more sense to expedite the education process if so much more education is required for a good job, rather than making people spend a third to a quarter of their life in school, just to make a decent living? What about doubling up the middle school grades? Put third and fourth together and fifth and six together. We are already moving to the year-round school system, so why not learn more as well. Just a thought. Maybe I'm the only one who thinks this. Maybe I burned myself out by going to a high school that felt like college. I'm a junior and I feel like I should be finished. Two more years. In the meantime, I'm going to work on another way to make money.