Former straight-A student boasts about working a trade instead of going to college: 'I've been in the trades for 40 years, don't fall for the hype'

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Ally Perry • Writer and Editor
Sep 19, 2025 9:00 AM EDT

Deciding what you want to work as for the rest of your life or, at the very least, for the first part of your adulthood is a decision that weighs heavily on many teenagers as they near the end of high school. All those years of education have led up to this point, and while plenty of people screw up and start again when it comes to their professional lives, it can seem like it is impossible for you to do the same. 

The big divide comes with the choice of whether to go to college or learn a trade as a way of developing the kinds of skills that will hopefully earn you a decent living in the future. For obvious reasons, the tradition has usually been for those more intellectually inclined to take the college route, and those with more practical skills to choose trade school. However, this doesn't always remain the case.

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    via Yunus Tuğ (Unsplash+)

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  • One young man stirred up controversy recently after he claimed to have been a straight-A student who chose after school to work in a trade. While some applauded his decision to work in this sector and insisted that it had many benefits, others who worked in both these industries and in white-collar jobs suggested that there were downsides to taking this path, especially if there were alternatives available. While it may be true that practical jobs are valuable, it doesn't mean that they are for everyone.

  • Boring Business ❤ @BoringBiz Refreshing to see younger folks gravitate towards the trades and not fall for the "you have to go to college" mentality With how expensive tuition has gotten and risk of Al automating white collar jobs first, the risk reward has tilted in blue collar's favor
    via BoringBiz_
  • Mil how i feel being a straight A student but going the blue collar route M2Y8
    via BoringBiz_
  • :30 Oliver @oliverjones_x Replying to @BoringBiz_ The trades offer real job security too... While everyone's worried about Al taking over desk jobs, plumbers and electricians will ALWAYS be needed Plus you're earning while learning instead of racking up debt
    via oliverjones_x
  • Owen213 @Mrohpowell1Owen Replying to @BoringBiz_ I've been in the trades for 40 yrs, don't fall for all the recent hype. It's tough, dangerous, dirty work. If you have the chance to go to college, take it!
    via Mrohpowell1Owen
  • David Duskendale @DavidDuskendale Replying to @BoringBiz_ More young people should go into the trades and start small businesses. There is a reason why all welders I know drive a Mercedes
    via DavidDuskendale
  • Sour Patch Lyds & @sourpatchlyds Replying to @BoringBiz_ Probably the best course of action is a trade when you're young, and then managing a business in that trade when you're older (easier on the back)
    via sourpatchlyds
  • rax 'levon honkers' king @RaxKingIsDead my husband is in the trades and loves it, he has a strong union, he enjoys the work and the coworkers, we're both so proud of everything he's built with his own two hands, and also he will most likely have to retire at 55 because these jobs are so physically disabling
    via RaxKngIsDd
  • jameson (big deck en... ❤ @jamesonhaslam I do not understand this romanticism of the trades you want an email job, not a “oh sh_I skipped and cut off my hand❞ job
    via jamesonhaslam
  • brian @brianonhere AM I THE ONLY ONE AROUND HERE WHO'S STILL GRATEFUL FOR HIS SEMI BULLS INDOOR COMPUTER DESK JOB
    via brianonhere
  • rem @funeral_planet I'm a electrician and you should absolutely go to college and get a white collar job if you can. It's simply an easier life, and chances are you'll make more money doing it.
    via funeral_planet
  • Sean Ghostface Furious @GhostmanSean Best advice I was given from a blue collar worker was that you should get a 4 year degree in your trade/related so you can move into management and not be destroying your body into your 40s, 50s, 60s, etc
    via GhostmanSean
  • America's Most Vaunted @stillvaunted For years, guys with physically demanding blue-collar jobs ensured their sons went to college so they "wouldn't have to do this sh," and now we're celebrating straight-A male students removing themselves from white-collar work and any semblance of institutional power.
    via stillvaunted
  • Dr Lindy @Lindy_Clearpill Al isn't automating anything and boomers encourage young men to go into trades to keep them out of their fake work email job pipeline and eliminate competition
    via Lindy_Clearpill
  • P@the_PGod Classic. Manufacturing: someone's American Dream, just not mine % in agreement All Americans -leaning 80 60 40 20 0 America would be better off if more Americans worked in manufacturing FINANCIAL TIMES I would be better off if I worked in a factory Source: Cato Institute 2024 Trade and Globalization National Survey
    via the_P_God
  • Sulla @gaulicsmith Don't do this
    via gaulicsmith
  • REPORT TOWN ONT John Ryan McGehee @JRyan McGehee a straight A student should go to college
    via JRyanMcGehee
  • Brandon @Brandon93Smith I worked several trades jobs when I was a teenager-early 20's. Every single one of those guys, to a man, told me to stay in school and get an office job.
    via Brandon93Smith
  • Spooks @SpookSlapper So send good students to do manual jobs, so that stupid people can keep going to universities. Seems counterproductive
    via SpookSlapper
  • anotora @anotora_ I'm sick of this narrative where I supposedly could have "just learned a trade" if I wanted How many unis offered me a full ride straight out of high school? Lots How many trades offered me apprenticeship or even a helper job? How many trade schools offered a full ride? Zero
    via anotora_
  • F@láFel @Fillaafill Banks would love to see you getting a job soon and join the line of mortgage payers and consumers right away. No right and wrong but imo don't fall for this trap. Educate yourself and aim for highest levels in the field you like
    via Fillaafill

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