of the cost of that degree were paid for before I graduated. If I remember correctly, that few hundred dollars were on a credit card for the books I used my last semester.

How did I manage that? I had the G.I. Bill benefits from a 4-year stint in the Marines. I also worked a part-time job and worked any other jobs I could find to help keep out of debt. I also lived frugally.

My start in what one might call "real job training" began my senior year of high school. I completed the first year of a 2-year vocational program my senior year in high school for air-conditioning and refrigeration. I worked in that field for about a year before I joined the Marines.

The Marines gave me about a year of schooling in aircraft maintenance and electronics in order to work some of the avionics systems on F-4 Phantoms.

I got out of the Marines and worked in biomedical electronics for a little over 2 years before I decided to try college.

In my opinion, education is never a waste. Some of it is just more valuable from a job or career standpoint. I could have had a long and successful career in everything from my high school vocational training, the military, down through to biomedical electronics. I went to college because I had a desire to be better educated and to ultimately be more satisfied with my career. I'm 2-3 years past retirement age now. I'll probably pull the plug in the next 12 months and fade away into full geezerdom.