School’s Not Always the Way

Of the many puzzled expressions I’ve caused in my life, the largest number happened right after I graduated from high school in 2008. That’s when I decided to do something that no one else in my graduating class did. Something radical and adventurous. Looking like many lazy layabouts before me, I decided to forego college and stay at home. How is this adventurous? A fair question. There’s nothing too thrilling about a young guy lying on his parents’ couch all day when he should be in college. Luckily, that’s not what I did with my time.

While many of my friends were getting accepted to prestigious schools to study things like fashion design and psychology, I was trying to decide what to do with my life and future. I knew I wanted to remain on in the country on

 Manitoulin Island long term and have lots of land. I also knew I needed a least a little money to build the life I dreamed of. I just wasn’t certain what to do to earn money way out here in the middle of nowhere. I’d always enjoyed photography, and was thinking about turning that into a career. The only problem was that none of the post-secondary programs I researched seemed to teach practical skills on running an effective photography business, which I was pretty sure was what I wanted to pursue. 

As the end of my graduating year approached, I began to panic. Everyone seemed to have their plans laid out but me. I was even called into the guidance counselor’s office to draw my attention to the fact that I was not yet enrolled in any universities or colleges. As if I wasn’t painfully aware of it already. The more I looked into formal post-secondary options, the more disillusioned I became. Surely there was a more efficient way to gain financially valuable skills than paying thousands of dollars to sit in a lecture hall for four years. And even then, there was no guarantee I’d know anything that would lead to a decent income doing something I liked where I wanted to live. That’s when I had an idea that changed the course of my life, and possibly yours.

I realized there are educational tools available that are far more efficient and effective for teaching me the skills I need than any institution. The  internet, for one. Photography isn’t like medicine or law. No one asks to see your degree before hiring you for a shoot. They just want to know that you do good work.  Realizing the possibility of remote, self-education changes everything. When my high school graduation rolled around, the names of all the graduates were