Yip, why bother with High School?
pilotyip said:
Colby just giving you options, the Army just like college is not for everyone. It is an individual choice.
Pilotyip, the words you've written here only serve to highlight what is wrong with your advice regarding "options", and "choices". You're forced to mention the Army, which is no suprise since the Army is the only option left to someone who wants to fly in the military with no degree. If Colby ever sets his sights on flying in the Air Force, Navy, or Marine Corps, he'll have to have one. Following your advice, 3 (the ones you conveniently ommitted) out of 4 military doors will remain closed. The same is true for civilian aviation pathways...your advice minimizes his career options, when at his stage of the game advice given should lean towards MAXIMIZING them.
Anyone in this business can find examples of pilots being either great or inept compared to whether they are degreed or not (or ex-military or not, female or not, martian or not...blah blah blah ad infinitum) and try to make a case for rule or exceptions to the same. That's not the point..the point is that if you add up all the possible pilot seats Colby could fill in his future...the kind that pays the bills and allows him a Life outside of flying... your advice (adding up the military, corporate, airline) erases THOUSANDS of chances (potential seats to fill) for him, and minimizes the chances for even more. Given good flying skills, how does having a degree do that? It doesn't..in fact, having a degree does the opposite. That's the reality of the broad, professional aviation world (a few little exception-cocoons don't establish the odds), and unless you're willing to clothe, feed, and support him and his future family yourself in a lifestyle he probably envisions, I find it somewhat irresponsible for you to try and steer him down a Less-options-is-better Pathway.
Besides, college is fun (and sometimes even educational), and the "college vs. flying" debate is at it's foundation a fallacy....they are NOT mutually exclusive activities. I did both at the same time, just like umpteen thousand others, and all it did was maximize my options in a very competitive career field (not a bad thing).
Congrats on beginning your flying Colby, have fun! It it's still what you want to do for a living when you graduate high school, consider a flying University. You can always leave and go to work if you want to, but if you graduate with a degree more doorways will be open to you later on, not only by virtue of the education you receive but also through friends you make there fanning out in the various segments of the industry. It's also easier to just continue an education you've already begun, rather than try to go back to college after becoming enmeshed in the job world (or real world with spouses and kids and mortgages etc). You're in a good position...like you, I began flying at 15, and in my experience going to an aviation University with a PPL and a couple hundred flight hours freed up time (vs. those with no previous experience who consequently had to study) as a freshman to concentrate on other important subjects like girls.
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