I know there are a number of similar old threads on the subject and I've spent a bunch of time reading through them before deciding I would like to make my own more specific post.
To give an overview of my situation, I am a 26 year old male. I did one year of college straight out of high school due to the haggling of my parents. Had no idea what to study or what even interested me. After one pretty miserable and unproductive year, I dropped out dissatisfied with the college experience and seeking adventure. Spent a couple years sailing, back packing, rock climbing, working odd jobs to make ends meet etc. Found out about working as an instructor or a guide in the Outdoor Expedition and Wilderness Therapy fields. Was extremely excited about this as a career path and did a 1 year Outdoor Leadership training program through a community college. Got a good gig at a youth wilderness program for foster youth leading trips and introducing urban youth to the wonderous outdoors. Worked at this program for 4 years and although i could have managed to save quite a bit of money, instead i opted to take more than half the year off each year to go on more travelling adventures and rock climbing trips around the world.
During this time, my love of nature grew deeper and deeper and through this and my travels i began learning more about things like foraging, primitive skills, homesteading, medicinal herbs, sustainability etc. In the past year, I read a book called the Hand Sculpted House which was the first thing that really turned me on to natural building and permaculture in general. I had heard some of the terms but had never really grokked the big picture. Every since then I have been obsessively researching and reading. This spring, instead of going back to my job at the wilderness program, instead I moved to Northern California to work as a grunt/"apprentice" for a timber framer natural builder and live on their homestead as a caretaker and garden hand. It has been mine first experience extensively gardening. It will be a pretty significant hit in the amount of money i earn but I decided to do so in the interest of what I will learn through it.
Due to these new interests and recent revelations , I've recently awakened to the idea of saving and planning and working to build the future that i desire. Though i have no regrets and feel rich with incredible experiences, I have only a few hundred dollars saved up in my bank account currently due to all my travelling and adventuring. Thankfully, I have no debt. I am able to live frugally fairly well due to all my time living out of my car penny pinching so that my climbing trip could last 5 months. I would love to save up to buy land so that I can start growing food and building a home and developing a sort of homestead. Im not sure what career path to follow though. I am a very hands on person and like working with my hands and when i first learned of natural building thought that it was what i wanted to become. But i have very little construction and carpentry experience and the idea of becoming a carpenter/natural builder seems daunting and far fetched seeing as it could take me a decade or more to aquire the skills i need to become self employed. Ultimately, that is what I would love the most. To be self empoloyed so as to have a flexible schedule. That or a seasonal job that leaves me with plenty of time to work on personal endeavors like homesteading.
Now that I have a vision of a life I might like to lead, I feel its time to buckle in and work to make it a reality. My dilemma is that im not sure where to go next. I am wondering about going back to school to finish off and get a BA and am wondering what folks input might be on that. I do have a fair amount of credits, maybe 3 or more semesters worth, assuming they transfer to wherever I would go. I feel getting a BA may be a prudent choice in order to open better paying opportunities for myself. While I do have a lot of experience under my belt in the outdoor/wilderness therapy field, most programs require that you have at least a BA to get the higher paying more long term Director and Coordinator type positions. I would do my best to find a way to go back to school for however years it would require to get a BA without going in to any debt. I feel this would be achievable due to scholarships (im now an independant adult who is dirt poor on paper, less than 20,000 a year) and familial support. DO you think getting a BA would be worth it if it meant I werent saving much money at all during that time but i wasnt going in to debt? I was considering environment sustainability focused schools like Sterling College in VT or Warren Wilson so that even if I chose to get a degree in OUtdoor Educations because i have lots of credits in that department, I could still glean and network and gain more insights in to the world of environmental sustainability. I was also considering a degree in Ecology or Sustainable Food Systems or something of the sort. I already have the tool kit to get many jobs in the outdoor field and often it doesnt matter what your BA is in so this could be a good way to diversify my skillsets and maybe land a job related to permaculture. What might that job be though? Maybe I could create m own major and find a way to combine my interests in wilderness therapy and permaculture.
Ive written a lot. Bottom line is, to go back to school or not? What about pursuing a trade instead? What jobs could those types of environmental BAs land? Any advice or ideas on how to best go back to school to finish a BA degree? Any experiences with Sterling College in VT? Any advice or thoughts whatsoever are greatly appreciated
If you've read all this, even if you dont reply, thank you. It helps me just to write this all out. Im new to this site but Ive already learned so much,
Cheers!
