As many of you know, I’m a Scouter and over the last two weeks Boy Scouts of America just wrapped up their inaugural National Jamboree at the new Bechtel Summit in West Virginia. The Jamboree is a quadrennial camp out that brings together Scouts from all over the US who are joined by limited numbers of their international counterparts for 10 days of fun, fellowship and learning. This year, Mike Rowe of “Dirty Jobs” fame gave a poignant speech. He recalls being shown this poster by his High School guidance counselor. You may have seen it as well or at least heard the sentiment behind it.
The problem is that somehow this notion turned our country on its ear. This nation is carrying $1 Trillion in student loan debt and yet college graduates are unemployed or underemployed. The American dream of being college educated has driven so many away from learning trades. Maybe it’s the lure of “easy money” or maybe a horrible bait and switch but the fact remains that we don’t have enough skilled workers. Mike Rowe wants to change that and has come up with this concept.
True, we need college graduates, particularly so-called STEM disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. But, just as importantly, we need to recognize that there is nothing wrong with being a mechanic, plumber or welder. When I grew up I wanted to be Soldier and I didn’t earn my degree until I needed it. And that was to become an officer. So, in my experience, there is something to be said for Rowe’s position.
To see his entire speech, watch this video. It’s a speech I’m glad my son got a chance to hear.
To learn more about Mike Rowe’s undertaking to close the skills gap, visit www.MikeRowe.com and read about Profoundly Disconnected.
Tags: Mike Rowe
theres a reason im going to school to be a machinist …..
That speech was powerful in person too. If we had more mechanics and small garages my bill at pep boys would be a lot smaller… That said, an education is valuable, a high school diploma won’t cut it.
Mike Rowe has several articles that he’s written on this topic as well as publishing open letters he addressed to both President Bush and Mr. Obama.
Like you, I intended to be a Soldier and my college degree was a means to an end of getting my Commission.
However the process my wife and I went through renovating our house got my hands really dirty – to negotiate costs down with various carpenter’s, plumbers, and electricians, I offered up myself as grunt labor.
Working side by side with these men and women, The whole experience fundamentally changed my outlook on life and people’s professional rolls.
“Don’t work harder, work smarter” would be better, it’s important to put work into something but working harder won’t solve what working more efficiently with time, money and energy could do. Then again, in this day of job markets filled with “educated” but untrained and unskilled graduates, one better work hard to get someplace
I find Crye Precision an excellent example for this slogan. Just an example, there are many more!
Crye Precision is also an excellent example of what you can do with a degree in Art and Design. It’s not just watercolors and clay pots as many parents used to think. Almost every designer gets a degree in an art field (graphic design, Industrial Design, Modeling design, etc, etc.) I mention this because even within higher education there is a disconnect with what is valued or important. ALL education is necessary. Even watercolors and clay pots.
The next recession will likely be caused by a financial breakdown of the middle class who will have mortgaged themselves into bankruptcy and foreclosure because of the amount of debt they are having to carry in order to fund their children’s college educations.
STEM is about to destroy where I attended college. The push for that idea just pushed out 4/5s of the English department because it is to focus on rhetoric (idk, we did plenty of writing in the literature courses I took), and the two rhetoricians in the department left…so think about that. All of those professors secured new employment btw.
Rah Va Mil.
There is an incredible book about this very topic by Matt Crawford called Shop Class as Soul Craft. I use it in teaching my design students. Highly recommended.
Just read that a few months ago. It applies. I was a soldier first, I am now continuing my college education to apply it towards the unique skills I learned while I served. In between semesters, I am a carpenter’s apprentice, a trade which I enjoy, kills time, earns money, from my neighbor. My other neighbor is teaching me to be a more apt shade tree mechanic for my vehicle that gets me to school and to job sites. Work smart and hard.
Thank you for posting this. Mike Rowe was my sons favorite part of the Jamboree. On the ride home from the airport he talked about the “Work Smart and Hard” poster.
Amen Mike! As a fellow Eagle Scout who did get a degree in a field I was already working in… The skills I learned in the field far outweighed the education I received from the University I attended. A good friend made me aware of Dad University… and I believe that was the same experience Mike spoke of when working alongside his grandfather… Dad University is where you learn the life skills required to make things, fix things and in general keep life moving forward. Thanks Dad for giving me the opportunity to attend your sacred learning institution.
Mike Rowe is an excellent spokesman for many things, but I am most proud that this fellow Eagle Scout took the time to address the single greatest gathering of youth this year (and possibly for the next few years as well.) I was also in attendance at the Jamboree. What a great venue! I was skeptical that the BSA could pull this one off in just three years but I can see they somehow managed to conduct a very memorable event. I imagined and discussed with several fellow staffers that if B-P could have designated the ideal jamboree site, the Bechtel Summit Reserve is exactly what he would have in mind. The jamboree really recharged my scouting batteries. I’m looking forward to 2017 and the world jamboree in 2019 if I can live that long. Be Prepared!!
I am an engineer that runs his own small business in the racing industry. In order to sell my products, I have to make them. This means long hours in the shop welding and turning wrenches. I find this message to be spot on. Sure, I could get a job that has me sitting behind a desk, but it is nowhere near as rewarding as making it myself. Trade crafts are invaluable. I have learned so much outside of formal education in getting out there and doing it.