From a Former Diesel Teacher, Current College Dean, and Army Veteran’s Perspective

There are no easy choices or foolproof plans, and that has never been more true than in the world we live in today.

With all of the influencers, social media, and now AI, it has become increasingly difficult to know which way to go or whose advice to trust when making major life decisions. When it comes to deciding what you should do or what you should encourage your kids to do after high school, it gets really tough.

For me, it was simple:

My parents didn’t have the means to send me to college, so off to the Army I went. Then 9/11 happened, and ironically, my parents probably wished they had found the money. Lol.

But all’s well that ends well, I think. I survived a war, and built a life for myself.

Currently, I’m a dean at a Technical College in the Pacific Northwest.

I manage most of our apprenticeship, automotive, and construction programs. I also taught diesel technology at a Trade School for five years, so I feel pretty comfortable giving advice about technical education.

I also happen to have a master’s degree in education from the University of Washington, so I know my way around a university as well.

That being said, let’s get to the meat of the matter.

Whether it’s you or a loved one considering trade school or college, I think the answer is actually pretty simple:

Pick the career you want first. Then let that determine which type of school or training you pursue.

And when you are thinking about careers, think about the actual skills the career requires—especially technical and hands-on skills that are difficult to automate completely.

After that, pick the school or training program that will get you there.

That may sound confusing, so let me use an example.

Electrician or Engineer?

Right now, you may be thinking I don’t know if I want to be an engineer or an electrician.

Both require math, so this whole idea that if you’re not good at math, you should become an electrician isn’t true. Electricians have to be able to do practical algebra and calculations, sometimes in their heads and on the fly.

So get it out of your mind that the trades are somehow low-intelligence fields.

Instead, think about the actual work.

What is your capacity to be outside in the cold or rain, digging ditches, climbing ladders, working in tight spaces, or being on your feet for much of the day?

The difference between these two careers isn’t simply that one requires intelligence and the other requires physical ability. Both require technical knowledge and problem-solving. But the way those skills are applied can be very different.

If you enjoy being outside, working with your hands, going to different job sites, and seeing something tangible at the end of the day, becoming an electrician might appeal to you.

If you prefer design, analysis, planning, and solving technical problems in a less physically demanding environment, engineering might be the better path for you.

Neither Path Is Necessarily Easy

Engineering school can be difficult to get into and complete, but here’s the catch: competitive electrician apprenticeships can be difficult to get into as well.

So again, it comes down to applying effort toward the path that leads to the career you actually want.

If you’re reading an article like this because you’re seriously thinking about your future, I’m going to assume you’re willing to put in some effort. Don’t choose a path simply because someone told you one was “easier.”

Choose the one that fits where you’re trying to go.

There is also a real economic tradeoff between these paths. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, electricians had a median annual wage of about $63,000 in 2025, while electrical engineers had a median wage of about $121,000.

But those numbers don’t tell the whole story.

Electrical engineers typically need at least a bachelor’s degree, while most electricians learn through an apprenticeship, where they are paid while they learn and their wages increase as they develop their skills.

That’s exactly why I don’t think the question should simply be, “Which career pays more?”

The better question is: What kind of work do I want to do, what will it take to get there, how much will that education cost me, and what will I be able to earn along the way?

Don’t Compare Salaries. Compare Careers.

This is another mistake I think people make when choosing careers.

Don’t make assumptions about income based solely on the level of degree a career requires.

There are technical occupations with earnings that might surprise you. Electrical power-line installers and repairers, for example, had a national median annual wage of about $95,000 in 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

But there is something important to understand about numbers like that: they don’t necessarily tell you what an individual worker will actually earn over the course of a year, particularly in occupations where overtime can be significant.

I work directly with experienced lineworker instructors at my college, and it has been a long time since any of them told me they earned less than $120,000 a year while working in the industry.

That’s anecdotal. I wouldn’t suggest that every new lineworker should expect to make $120,000. But it illustrates why you need to look beyond a single national median when researching a career.

Where you live matters too.

The same occupation can pay very differently from one state or region to another. And in some careers, your willingness to travel can dramatically change the opportunities available to you.

Someone willing to temporarily work in another state, travel to major projects, respond to storm restoration, or go where demand is highest may have earning opportunities that someone committed to working close to home simply won’t have.

That doesn’t make one choice better than the other.

Maybe being home every night with your family is worth more to you than maximizing your income. That’s something you need to know about yourself before choosing a career.

So when researching what a career “pays,” don’t just Google the national average salary.

Look at where you actually plan to live. Look at wages in that region. Ask about overtime, benefits, union contracts, travel requirements, geographic differences, experience, advancement opportunities, and how many hours people actually work to earn those higher incomes.

And before somebody reads “$120,000” and immediately decides to become a lineworker, understand what you’re signing up for.

Linework can mean heights, bad weather, emergencies, travel, long hours, physical demands, and potentially dangerous working conditions.

The earning potential doesn’t mean much if you hate the life required to earn it.

That’s the point.

Don’t start with, “Which type of school is better?”

Start with, “What kind of work and life fit me, what can that career realistically provide, and what training gets me there?”

Think About the Cost of Education

Cost should be part of that decision too.

For the 2025–26 academic year, average published tuition and fees were about $4,150 per year at public two-year colleges and about $11,950 per year for in-state students at public four-year universities. Private nonprofit four-year colleges averaged about $45,000 per year in published tuition and fees.

Those are sticker prices, not necessarily what students actually pay after financial aid, but the point is that the educational path you choose has economic consequences before you ever receive your first paycheck.

That doesn’t mean “pick the cheapest option.”

A more expensive education can make perfect sense when the career requires it and the return justifies the investment.

It means know what you’re buying and why you’re buying it.

Think About Skills, Not Just Job Titles

When looking at college careers, I would also think carefully about the skills involved.

For example, fields such as network engineering, mechanical engineering, and electrical engineering involve significant elements of design, implementation, troubleshooting, and technical problem-solving.

AI will almost certainly change how people in these fields work. But working alongside technology is different from having no valuable skills without it.

When you’re building a new office, condo, manufacturing facility, or data center, trust me: nothing ever goes exactly according to plan.

Changes have to be made on the fly, and those changes require people with real knowledge, judgment, and technical know-how.

That’s why I wouldn’t spend too much time trying to predict exactly which careers AI or robotics will eliminate over the next 20 years. Nobody really knows.

Instead, ask yourself:

What valuable skills will I actually possess?

Careers involving technical knowledge, troubleshooting, physical systems, materials, equipment, safety, human interaction, or adapting to unpredictable situations give you skills that can continue to have value even as technology changes.

Software engineering, computer programming, digital design, and many other careers will continue to change rapidly because of AI and automation. But the trades will change too.

The goal isn’t to find a career that technology will never touch.

The goal is to become someone who knows how to do something valuable.

So, College or Trade School?

It depends on what you want to do.

And, yes, it might also depend on whether you mind being dirty, wet, cold, hot, or sore some days.

Personally, I loved my time in the Army and my time as a diesel mechanic. For the first part of my adulthood, that path served me well.

But here’s something else I want young people—and especially parents—to understand:

The decision you make at 18 does not have to be the decision you live with at 40.

I earned my bachelor’s degree at 32 and my master’s degree at 39. I’m 46 now, and I still plan on earning my doctorate at some point.

Life is long.

Going into a trade today doesn’t mean you can’t earn a bachelor’s degree later. Going to college doesn’t mean you can’t learn a trade later. Becoming a mechanic, electrician, welder, engineer, nurse, teacher, or anything else doesn’t mean you have signed a contract to remain exactly where you started for the rest of your life.

Your education and career can build on each other over time.

So don’t constrain yourself because you’re worried that you’re running out of time.

You either have the time or you don’t, and if you don’t, there isn’t anything to worry about anyway. Lol.

Choose a career that interests you. Figure out what education or training is actually required to get there. Learn skills that have value. Work hard. Be willing to change direction when life changes.

And above all, trust in the Lord, make a decision, and execute.

I think one day you’ll look back and be glad you did.

Hope this helps.

Till next time,

Lester

Still don’t know which career works for you take all look at the top trades to get into in 2026