I am a Junior in High School and have to start thinking about colleges and scholarships and everything else that goes with that.  All I really want to do is get married and have a family and stay at home and raise my kids.  But my parents want me to go to college.  I am not opposed to going to college for Teaching but I'm torn between going to college around where I live or going to St. Mary's in Kansas.  I know if I am meant to be married my future husband is out there somewhere and I may or may not have met him yet; and if I haven't God will make sure I do.  But I really don't know if I should go to college around where I live or go to St. Mary's.  Any thoughts?

Good post, Domitilla!!

Yes, go to a community college first...that way, you can "try it out" without the pressure of BIG college life...plus, you get to stay near your "home base" and the Sacraments.

A teaching degree will be beneficial, you will be able to use it with your future children!!

You will be in my prayers!!

Love,

+michaela

St. Mary's in Kansas (the SSPX college) is not accredited to my knowledge. If you are going for college for the degree, that choice is very imprudent.

Community college OR university - if you have the financial aid. If a teaching degree is your goal, you might be able to take care of prerequisites at a community college.

College is do-able if you have scholarships.

Living at home saves a lot of money. If you must live away from home, try renting a room or apartment.. If you look on university websites, almost half the projected cost is the money you pay to live on campus. If you can find another option that is cheaper, take advantage of it.

I highly disagree with the idea that college will make "mince-meat" out of traditional Catholics that are steady in their faith. University campuses have plenty of places that you can avoid the crowd and study on your own. Oftentimes, their library systems are extensive and have plenty of good Catholic books to study in your spare time.

In short, if you aren't one to go with the crowd looking for a good time, squandering your parents money at Starbucks, shopping, going to parties, etc not a lot of people will want to "hang out" with you and the feeling will be mutual. If you are really considering college, just consider it from a practical and financial side - i.e., what you want to do with a degree. Don't be anxious about the environment. At least not overly anxious.

* I am currently in University as well. Just out of high school.

I respectfully disagree with you, Nadir.  As a grandmother who was involved in the homeschooling movement for many years, trained teachers were wonderful homeschooling mothers.  As a matter of fact, one of my trained teacher friends taught my children french and the other trained teacher taught them biology and chemistry.  I was grateful!

St. Mary's isn't accredited? Why would anyone be there?

I just checked the website again (it has been a few years since I looked) - apparently they do offer an Associates Degree in Liberal Arts. They also offer a Catholic teacher training program.

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I highly disagree with the idea that college will make "mince-meat" out of traditional Catholics that are steady in their faith.

You're generalizing from your own experiences.

Agreed.

But is that to say that people who say otherwise are not also generalizing from their own experiences?

I agree in principle with what Bishop Williamson and other people have to say against going to college on moral grounds, but I have not found it an issue in my own experience.

But is that to say that people who say otherwise are not also generalizing from their own experiences?

I don't think they're generalizing from their own personal experience as a student, but are rather noticing the changes in society.

Of course there are those who will point to statistics that those with degrees are less likely to divorce.

When adjusted for IQ those statistics the results do not suggest any advantage for the college-educated.

The education system is designed to produce people who think like white Obama voters.  

I would suggest that going to college is affecting you more than you realize.  You are in any case, highly atypical.

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But is that to say that people who say otherwise are not also generalizing from their own experiences?

I don't think they're generalizing from their own personal experience as a student, but are rather noticing the changes in society.

Of course there are those who will point to statistics that those with degrees are less likely to divorce.

When adjusted for IQ those statistics the results do not suggest any advantage for the college-educated.

The education system is designed to produce people who think like white Obama voters.  

I would suggest that going to college is affecting you more than you realize.  You are in any case, highly atypical.

Thank you for your response.

Your explanation makes sense.

Of course simply getting a college diploma does not affect your IQ. However, the understood purpose is getting the degree - not becoming more intelligent, etc.

I can understand your suggestion that going college is subconsciously adversely affecting me, however I don't see it that way. In many ways it's less a danger to the faith than high school. I go to classes at University, study, and go home. I'm not pressured to join any fraternity, "hang out" with other students, or anything like that. In fact, I can count the number of people that I communicate with on a daily basis with one hand. I've encountered feminist, liberal, crazy, etc professors - it's not that hard to recognize and tune out what people say. I don't see how going college is having any more influence on me than going into the workforce would.

And yes, I am atypical by some standards, but any other traditional Catholic would be highly "atypical" on a college campus as well.