[jackr]

I dunno, I have a crew waiting for me when I do go, and place for me where I live now.I just dont see why I cant go to school later, its the same thing, just later. Please tell, this is making me think.

Gumbo,

I think we did tell you.

I went back to school but it was 16 years and a lot of suffering later.

I think you are thinking like a 17 year old and that is to be expected. You asked others here for some reason. I am wondering if somewhere in the back of your mind you know that you shouldn't so you asked here hoping all of us hippie types would say it was cool and go for it.

You didn't get that response. It has been said by others to have a balance. Cant you go to festivals and party and it not be a full time deal? Cant it be part time when it doesnt interfere with school? Do you have to make that your life?

To be honest when I was 17 if someone asked me if I could do both, my answer would have been "no fucking way". But then I never gave anyone a chance to ask me because I knew what I was going to do and no one was going to talk me out if it. You were smart enough to ask where I wasn't. Are you also smart enough to listen?

[myoung6923]

It's always better to get your work done first - and then play...

Life has a way of happening when you aren't looking. You know, you could start off with all good intentions of starting school later on and shit just happens - things that can hold you back from doing that - who knows - something happens (like a pregnancy and a baby on the way - just an example) and you suddenly need to get a job and support others - and you think then that you'll go to school in a couple of years. But, you find that you need to work all the time just to make ends meet (cuz your pay sucks cuz you don't have a degree) and there isn't any time left in the day to go to school. See the vicious cycle.

The other thing is that college is harder and harder the longer you stay away from it - you forget how to study and stuff - you fall out of the swing of doing school work - and it's much harder the longer you wait.

Maybe I'm playing out a doomsday scenario here - it's because I know the story well. Not the same things happen to everyone that happened to me - but - any way you cut it - you can't go wrong by going to school first - but things can certainly go wrong if you don't. I know that all aspects of life are really just rolling the dice and hoping for a good outcome - but in most situations you can improve your chances of that. Going to college is exactly that. And you can still hang with your friends - and you can still party. Go to school while you have the time and life is still easy. Friends and shows and parties will always be there - you don't run the risk of losing them if you go to school.

"All good things in all good time"

[shakedown_04092]

If I may, Gumbo....I think you'll relate to this one:

"Don't shake the tree when the fruit ain't ripe"

[krzykat]

I gotta say it, if you don't feel ready right now its o.k. to take a break . . . but make sure it is just a break. I took a year off after H.S. and between my junior and senior years in college but i went back. Have jour fun but take care of the important stuff too

[Erictw83]

Go to school man...

College is great because you can actually have your cake and eat it too. You can still go to alot of shows, party it up, expand your mind through learning and other various means when neccessary. True maybe you can't hit fall, spring tour shows 1500 miles away on week nights, but during summer tours you can. Personally there isn't any band I'd travel that far to see today anyway, (except if phish came back and threw a northeast festi, i'd be there). You can meet a lot of cool heads in college too. You can still party and get your shit done. Better yet, once you've gotten your shit done it gives you the right and the reason to party guilt free knowing that you deserve it.

Plus, don't you always hear old folks saying how great their college days were and how they were the best years of their life? I do and I agree.

[Grinner]

i'm only a sophomore in college, but I can't tell you how much you can learn about yourself in college. The festival scene appeals to you now? wait till you really learn how to learn. That's what college's all about: its about learning how to learn a certain way. We are learning new things our whole lives, of course the way we do its gonna make a difference.
- Grinner

[razmablues]

this is a very great topic.

i've always thought all the old heads would recommend just saying fuck it and going out on the road and getting that immediate satisfaction.

but this advice is great, and i agree with it, as much as i know anyway.

and just a thought.... would anyone change their advice if it was the actual grateful dead touring?

[broomhead]

Everyones giving you great advice. Remember all that glitters is not gold. At your age I still had that idyllic view of touring. However, living and supporting your life on and around "tour" is a really different experience than just hitting a vacation run of shows.



Today I see some of my friends from the too cool, bi-coastal, jet setting, swinging days and unfortunately now they are either just finishing decade runs in federal prison,(1 old girlfriend is doing 25yrs. federal for an arguably victimless crime and another is dead) a handful are dead or dying and a bunch continue to struggle.I was lucky, post 95 I was able to get clean, obtain a degree, fall in love, marry and have 2 beautiful kids..etc.. While I'm certainly not the only one to come out the other end of that life it's tough.

That said, the friends I had that were full time students and spent part time touring (obviously had better judgment and balance in their lives) have done really well.



If you made it through that rant my point is go to college it's a great experience. a college degree opens so many doors and allows you to choose your own path.

I wish you the best whatever decision you make!
jb

[jackr]

would anyone change their advice if it was the actual grateful dead touring?

No I wouldnt, remember it was touring with the dead that got me into trouble and much worse for many of my friends.

I would still say stay in school and hit shows when you can.

However I certainly would admit that if it was the actual grateful dead touring it would be much more tempting!

[BOUKINATOR]

go to school... if you play your cards right you'll get lots of live music and party'n in anyway

and then you won't turn 40 working at McD's

[gumbo]

This is hard. I still do plan on going, and want to, I'm just not for sure when. To go furthur, this is how I would want it.....

California state tuition is cheap compared to othe states (like mine). I would roughly pay half of what I would need to to get a degree, something I could actually save. I turn 18 in January and at that time I'll move there and establish my residency, find friends, etc....
From that time, I have 2 summers (1 year to get residency)to get my shit together for fall classes. I could tour for those summers and work in the winters to save money for school. If it doesnt go down like that then I'm ok with it, as long as I'm happy.

That said, the friends I had that were full time students and spent part time touring (obviously had better judgment and balance in their lives) have done really well.

This is what I was shooting for, I'm not just saying "ok, heres my life and party on till I find a degree"
I know I will be very poor for a while and that it wont be easy. I am taking all this in too, I just dont see why its now or never. I would have posted this earlier but I was visiting my brother all weekend, but from the general idea that I gave above, is it still a bad idea. (Btw, this is all very helpful, thank you guys very much)

[myoung6923]

Often times college is now or never in respect to going right after high school. Like I said earlier - and in the words of John Lennon - life is what happenns while you're busy making other plans. When you start off into life, things happen and you lose the time to be able to go back to school. For as much as you can't understand it now, responsibility creeps up on you and you will need to make money to get by - this makes it hard to go to school because you will be working all the time just to make ends meet - and you will be making low wages and so it will be very difficult. Especially with touring and partying - the potential for trouble along the way is pretty high as well.

I also mentioned it before but - you don't run the risk of never being able to tour if you go to college - but you DO run the opposite risk (and more) if you go with your plan. You obviously want what glitters right now - but moderation my friend, it's all there for you but you don't need to throw yourself head first into it. You can do it smart and cover all of your bases.

It really sounds like you pretty much had your mind made up before you posted here and that you are just looking for things to support that decision. So, if you don't listen to the wisdom of your fellow hippies that have travelled this route and have learned a better way - then listen to this - DON'T BURN YOUR BRIDGES!!!!

You know the saying? "Be careful how you treat the people on your way up - cuz you're going to need them on your way back down."

Don't estrange your family - they love you and want the best for you - even if you don't see that right now - you will understand some day. If the day comes when you are out on the road and you need to call in that emergency escape clause - you need them there to help you.

You're own scenario is scarily familiar to mine - with grand ideas about moving to CA, getting jobs, goint to school cheap... but it doesn't happen like that in the end. Not that it's impossible, but in all reality the odds are stacked against it working like that. Now, at 18 I knew it all and nobody could convince me otherwise. .But they were right - and I had to go out and get my ass kicked by the road to understand - I'm just lucky that I still had family to rely on to reel me back in when I was in a bad mess.

Your family is your parachute - don't throw it away before you jump!

[germfisk]

My 2 cents:

Not going to college right out of highschool was not an option for me. I never even considered it. I was not into the Dead or Phish at that time. I got to college and got turned on. I had an INCREDIBLE 4 yours of college and got decent grades.

After I graduated, I spent the next 3 years working as a bartender, moving from Indiana to Portland, going to as many shows as possible, and having an INCREDIBLE time.

When I decided it was time to move on, I got into law school. I am now 32 years old, married to an wonderful woman, with two beautiful children. I still get to a show now and again.

If I had it to do over again, I woudl not change a thing. If I had not gone to college, I cannot imagine where I would be right now.

A wise man once said: "Someday never comes."

good luck

[Django]

So much truth has already been put out here, about the vicious cycle of an under paid job that doesn't allow time or energy to go to school later in life, about the unsavory element that starts to show when the glitter wears off, about how much better every thing is when you're a more completed person, and how you can spend four years working now and the rest of life sailing smoothly, or playing now and paying for it later, etc.
I went to college as an middle aged man with two jobs, family, mortgage etc. My kids are going as young adults. My college experience includes no college social life. Later on I got the school work, but none of the school perks, so to speak.
When I was college age I worked at a job that didn't pay enough extra to go out and meet girls and date, and the place I worked had few women working there. I was pretty lonely for a long time. The fact that I worked consistantly allowed my life to be completed with my wife and family finally coming along but it was the hard way to do it.

[strumminsix]

Wasn't there another thread on this exact topic last week?

Dude, let me lay it out to you like it is:
Fact #1 - people who "put off" going to school usually don't get to it when planned
Fact #2 - I've known only 1 person who moved to "establish residency" then completed their education
Fact #3 - Plan on struggling into your 20s & 30s
Fact #4 - Plan on working a full-time job & going to school
Fact #5 - Plan on being 5 years salary behind your peers
Fact #6 - Plan on eligible ladies passing you by since you don't have your life together.

There it is as blunt as I can be.

It seems like you are a Rush "New World Man" in that you are "old enough to know what's right but young enough not to chose it."

There is an old adage that says roughly, "when faced with 2 choices the correct one is usually the more difficult one."