Older guy here. I interviewed with an airline several years ago. The question was asked why I don't have a college degree. I ask the interviewer if he thought a college degree made someone smarter. He said no but it did show perseverance. That you can start something and stick to it. My mother called it sticktoitovnous. I was in my late 40's at the time. I told him that I've been married to the same woman for 27 years, have worked in the same job for 25 years, raised 4 kids, blah, blah, blah. The interviewer paused and said that my point was well made. I got hired.

I've worked with a lot of college degrees individuals and a lot of high school only graduates. I can say with certainty that many of the college degrees individuals weren't any smarter than the non college individuals. In fact I have a saying. "Too much college and not enough high school!" I also have come to the conclusion that colleges are no longer an institution of learning but an institution of profit. It seems they'll give a diploma to just about anyone that has the cash. In my opinion, sometimes, a degrees individual comes in with an attitude that he or she is smarter than everyone else in the room just because they have a degree. It's so entertaining seeing these folks knocked back peg after peg until they come to the conclusion that they just might be able to learn something from those around them.

I'm a retired air traffic controller. I got hired in 1982. When I went to the academy there were 360 of us that started and 140 of us passed. In my individual class of 20 only 6 of us made it. The other 14 were all college degrees. Of the 6 only 3 had college degrees. We had one individual that had a Ph.D. and was mathematically eliminated 4 weeks into the program. My son is also a controller. He went into the Marines right out of high school. The girl he was dating is also a controller but she took a different route. She went to ER and has over a $100k in student loans. They are doing the same job making exactly the same salary. And for the record, neither he nor I were controllers in the military.

When I went to my 10 year high school reunion many of my classmates went on to college and earned a degree. Many of them worked in the numerous factories and retail stores around the area. I'm not knocking that kind of labor just pointing out that they didn't need a degree for those jobs. I, on the other hand, joined the Air Force. That was the springboard for the rest of my adult work life.

My dad told me when I was very young that if someone offered me a pound of brains or an ounce of common sense, take the common sense.