Graduation: if I were 17 again

Ronald Mason, Contributor

It is the season of graduations. Students are at the important stage where they have completed a major part of the education process. For the purposes of this crystal ball gauging, let us focus on the exit from secondary school.

Should I refer to those young persons as graduates? A large portion of them will have a school-leaving certificate. What should that mean for the 17-year-old? They attended for the requisite five years. They were exposed to the disciplines of arts, science, technical skills, and general grammar. Now what?

Have your options been prescribed by the 'stream' into which you were placed? Does it mean that you are unlikely to be an engineer if you were streamed in the arts? Has the school done you a disservice by very early determining what you would be exposed?

However, the reality is, you have ended that process and you have just a school-leaving certificate. Do not be disheartened. The period of youth and the opportunities it affords are not lost. A couple of the science subjects, combined with required English and mathematics, will allow your horizons to be expanded. Reach for it. Be true to your own strength and aptitude.

You are now free from the constraints of high school. Who are they to determine your destiny? Express your individuality and pursue the aspiration born from your dreams.

The other side of the coin is, regrettably, more the norm. Large numbers of 17-year-olds will end their high-school experience with only school-leaving certificates. They will successfully pass no subjects at CSEC standard. They would have been warehoused for five years. Exposed to a deficient product. Exposed to less than the rigour required for success.

Subsequently, they end up with this piece of paper of recent vintage. Oh, yes, it comes properly, ever beautifully packaged, but worthless. If I were 17 and in this grouping, what next? Least likely to be hired, admitted to further schooling, and desperately reliant on a 'link'. This begins to induce desperation. Family anticipate a return on the high-school expenditure and the 17-year-old faces the real world.

Because you may have been badly served is not a signal of the end of the world.

All options are still open. One of the features of being 17 is that the age factor works in your favour. Youth comes with agility. You can combine the choice of subject you need with the time to acquire mastery in a reasonable time frame. This allows you plan for the future.

Self-motivation aids in success

Let's assume you did not get to sit mathematics. You need mathematics to be the electrical engineer you want to become. Now is the time to find an appropriate way to study for, and pass, maths. You will find that once you are self-motivated to achieve your goal, it will be easier. You'll be more likely to succeed. Once that is done, you are on the way to achieving the identified goal.

One of the traditional escape valves has been migration. The wide world has more opportunity for you without the formal success at high schools. You will earn less. You will be the last hired and first fired. You will be denied promotion based on 'having no papers', signifying your qualification for the new job opportunity. However, you may be spared the indignity of unemployment consequent to poverty.

The valued lesson of getting good high-school education is to be found in the options it provides to the person.

The high schools do turn out some 12 per cent of the graduates who secure passes in English, mathematics and three other subjects at one sitting. If you are 17 and in that select group, what does the world hold for you? There are obvious devices like pursuing tertiary education, but you must also take into account the structure of your past CSEC performance.

Sixth form not for everyone

Two years at the CAPE level in high school may be a waste of time. When your occupation choice will facilitate an entry and ability to progress with CSEC, why not? Yes, I understand the pride associated with being admitted to sixth form, but what is the goal? Pride or pursuit of a career? Acknowledge your skills and preparations. Put them to use. Get the jump-start on the career that a sound high-school education, successfully completed now affords.

Can you attend a technical college to become qualified as cultural, entertainment, medical and automobile technicians? All are readily recalled as areas of specialisation that can be pursued in the place of two more years in high school.

Just a word to my young friends. There are financially rewarding careers to be pursued without a degree. They need a high level of training and skill, but not necessarily a degree. Think of all the skilled technicians who were employed in industry. Let us use one. Millwright. Don't know anything about it. Look it up. Pays very well and is in short supply. Of course, it helps to be entering the work field with a well-established education from high school.

You are 17. The world beckons, but remember the world is not a one-size-fit-all model. Go forth and set the stage. Occupy it and shine like the star you are capable of being.

Ronald Mason is an immigration attorney-at-law/mediator. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and nationsagenda@gmail.com.