AGRICULTURE COLLEGE: TO GO OR NOT
"I can go to agriculture college tuition-free (scholarship) but it is most likely based on conventional thinking. I don't want to farm conventionally. I'm 17; should I go or not go?" And then the final question: "Is it realistic for me to think I could own a farm some day?"
These questions come to me more often than you might think; a letter came last week posing them again. Here is my response.
My mentor, Allan Nation (founder of Stockman Grass Farmer) always said college was only necessary if your vocation requires a license (like RN, Physical Therapist, MD, CPA, etc.). I generally agree. Exposing yourself to rigorous and challenging academic pursuits is always good. Fortunately, many opportunities exist that don't involve bricks and mortar and the typical foolishness that tags along to college.
The problem is that most people never develop a deep desire to pursue challenging intellectual exercise without prodding. That's why I hedge a bit more than Allan did; I appreciate what immersion in classics and the humanities of literature and history and philosophy can produce. Is that worth going into debt? No. Could you read and study all that on your own? Yes. Will you? Probably not.
I'm a big believer in generalism. You can get specifics anytime, but wrestling intellectually with over-arching issues of culture, government, and belief, especially in a group setting, is hard to duplicate. If you're a self-starter and have a reading list of classics and perhaps a friend going through them with you, that's wonderful. Since experience trumps everything, spend those 4 years doing what you want to do vocationally and you'll be way farther down the road than the folks in debt and beer party regret for 4 years.
One of our recent apprentices had a 2-year associate agriculture degree and he said he learned more in one of my 2-hour lectures than in those two years of classroom instruction. That's not bragging; it speaks to direction. Why would you pay money to learn a dysfunctional system? That makes no sense.
Yes, I went to college and don't regret it, but that's not where I learned to write. I learned to write by working weekends during high school at the local newspaper. I also had a couple of fantastic composition teachers in high school. And I practiced, entering essay contests, writing short stories just for fun. If it doesn't require a license, experience is far superior to classrooms. My greatest college equity came from being on the intercollegiate debate team. Wow.
Now, for the owning your own farm, of course it's possible, but royalty (owning your own farm property) comes slowly--sometimes multi-generationally, which is what happened in our family. My grandfather aspired, but never did. My Dad caught the bug but after losing everything in Venezuela, had to start over here. Mom and Dad's off-farm salaries finally paid off the mortgage. Teresa and I started with no mortgage but raw land. You could say that's three generations to royalty.
The main thing is to not get distracted or frustrated with speed. Focus on building a business, finding customers, serving them, developing mastery. Refine, read, adjust and don't quit. The greatest equity you can possess is relationships. Cultivate people, skill, and information. Eventually that investment will pay off with opportunity.
As you age, the confluence of connections, competence, and capital will enable you to capture the otherwise unattainable opportunity. That time may come in your 40s or 50s or 60s. Enjoy the journey, the discovery, and let the timing be serendipitous.
If you had 18-22 to relive, in hindsight would you or should you have spent it differently?