A Splendid Career Without a $50,000+ Entrance Fee
John O. Andersen
In our college degree obsessed culture, we may forget that many
great career fields don't require an entrance fee of four years of cramming
for tests and forking over $50,000 plus to pay for tuition, books, and room
and board.
Recently, our family visited a lovely botanical garden near our
home. We learned about some of the over 2,000 species of plants growing
there. We also learned a little about the field of horticulture.
Horticulture offers many great ways to earn a living. You create
beauty for people to enjoy. Most likely, you'll work outdoors. You may
escape office politics. You may enjoy the intrinsic simplicity of manual
labor; the chance to sweat, to always wear grubbies, and to get plenty of
exercise without paying for a health club membership. You may enjoy a
fascinating life-long journey of learning and discovery about plants, soil,
and the environment.
Our local botanical garden office had a rack of brochures including
one from the horticulture department of a community college. We learned that
a person can earn a certificate in horticulture after just nine months of
study. At the current tuition rate, that would cost right around $1600! Not
a bad price for some fourteen courses in subjects such as chemistry,
landscape design, plant identification, mathematics, and writing.
On the other hand, if you connect with someone already in the field
who can be your mentor, you may be able to learn the trade without attending
classes. For the disciplined self-learner with a share of passion, this
could be the ideal way into the field.
Along with many job opportunities, horticulture offers more than a
few entrepreneurial possibilities. I knew a woman in Indianapolis who had a
successful business which supplied offices with indoor plants. She would
deliver the plants to the offices, tend to the sick plants, and handle any
other plant needs of her customers. As a carpet cleaner, I've had many
financially successful customers, including self-employed florists, an
arborist, a lawn care specialist, and a nursery owner.
Some years ago, I spent a summer working for a lawn care service. It
was tough work, but always immensely satisfying to see the finished product.
These days while driving around town on carpet cleaning business, I can't
help but notice the many groundskeepers, including specialty gardeners who
design, plant, and tend beautiful landscapes. Such businesses are solid
year-in-year-out businesses. Typically, once customers discover that you are
conscientious, hard-working, and charge a fair price, they may become your
customers for life. And they send their friends to you as well.
Horticulture is just one of many examples of honorable, soulful, and
financially rewarding fields of work which don't require high entrance fees.
It proves that you needn't take on debt, earn a degree, or be in a status
career in order to have an interesting occupation, and succeed financially.
John Andersen
http://www.spiritone.com/~andersen
"Make visible what, without you, might perhaps have never been
seen."--Robert Bresson
great career fields don't require an entrance fee of four years of cramming
for tests and forking over $50,000 plus to pay for tuition, books, and room
and board.
Recently, our family visited a lovely botanical garden near our
home. We learned about some of the over 2,000 species of plants growing
there. We also learned a little about the field of horticulture.
Horticulture offers many great ways to earn a living. You create
beauty for people to enjoy. Most likely, you'll work outdoors. You may
escape office politics. You may enjoy the intrinsic simplicity of manual
labor; the chance to sweat, to always wear grubbies, and to get plenty of
exercise without paying for a health club membership. You may enjoy a
fascinating life-long journey of learning and discovery about plants, soil,
and the environment.
Our local botanical garden office had a rack of brochures including
one from the horticulture department of a community college. We learned that
a person can earn a certificate in horticulture after just nine months of
study. At the current tuition rate, that would cost right around $1600! Not
a bad price for some fourteen courses in subjects such as chemistry,
landscape design, plant identification, mathematics, and writing.
On the other hand, if you connect with someone already in the field
who can be your mentor, you may be able to learn the trade without attending
classes. For the disciplined self-learner with a share of passion, this
could be the ideal way into the field.
Along with many job opportunities, horticulture offers more than a
few entrepreneurial possibilities. I knew a woman in Indianapolis who had a
successful business which supplied offices with indoor plants. She would
deliver the plants to the offices, tend to the sick plants, and handle any
other plant needs of her customers. As a carpet cleaner, I've had many
financially successful customers, including self-employed florists, an
arborist, a lawn care specialist, and a nursery owner.
Some years ago, I spent a summer working for a lawn care service. It
was tough work, but always immensely satisfying to see the finished product.
These days while driving around town on carpet cleaning business, I can't
help but notice the many groundskeepers, including specialty gardeners who
design, plant, and tend beautiful landscapes. Such businesses are solid
year-in-year-out businesses. Typically, once customers discover that you are
conscientious, hard-working, and charge a fair price, they may become your
customers for life. And they send their friends to you as well.
Horticulture is just one of many examples of honorable, soulful, and
financially rewarding fields of work which don't require high entrance fees.
It proves that you needn't take on debt, earn a degree, or be in a status
career in order to have an interesting occupation, and succeed financially.
John Andersen
http://www.spiritone.com/~andersen
"Make visible what, without you, might perhaps have never been
seen."--Robert Bresson