Most of you know me as a Weather Anchor here in New York City and writer for parenting sites like BabyCenter and Mom.me, in addition to my Weather Anchor Mama blog. But did you know that I’m also an actress? Okay, you got me. I wouldn’t exactly call myself an actress. But I did score a recurring reporter role on Fox’s former hit show, The Following. I worked with some of Hollywood’s top actors like Kevin Bacon and Jessica Stoup.
I’m so grateful to have had this experience, and I’m even more honored for the connections I’ve made. I’ve learned so much from my time on set of The Following as well. One memorable moment in particular changed my view about my kids going to college.
We were in between shooting scenes when Jessica Stroup came over and joined in a conversation I was having with some of the crew members. We had been talking about breaking into the industry when she shared her story.
She talked about being a senior in high school with no formal acting experience, other than school productions. Jessica said that a teacher had asked her class to reveal what they planned on doing after graduation. The North Carolina native revealed that she’d be moving to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career.
Her teacher pulled her aside and told her to reconsider going to college prior to tackling her life’s dream. But she decided to continue on with her plan despite the woman’s advice.
The mom in me asked, “What did your mom say?”
“My mom helped me find a place in L.A. and came with me,” she said.
Every parent wants the best for their child. As a mom, I want to teach my kids to go after their dreams. But I also want them to go to college. I don’t know what I’d do if one of my children said that they wanted skip a higher eduction to become an actor, actress, or any other profession for that matter.
However, having this conversation with Jessica Stroup has changed my views. Don’t get me wrong, I still plan to encourage my kids to attend college. But I’m also willing to support a dream they’re passionate about because having the support of your family is important.
Jessica said she had a plan in place. She’d give herself about two years and if her acting career didn’t take off, she’d start college. It was down to the wire when she scored her first featured role and the rest is history.
Being a journalist is not that different. Like any actor, being mobile and flexible is key to becoming a success in journalism. It’s also a very competitive industry. I appreciate that my family has my back and I can only offer the same for my kids.
I’ll definitely keep and open mind and be here to support their endeavors. Having a higher education doesn’t necessarily determine your level of success. It’s your level of commitment and how you work toward achieving you goals that matter most.
What would you do if you kid decides to skip college?
This was such a great read, and a good reminder that straying from the beaten path can work in your favor!
I can relate to the passion of a career goal which Jessica and many others strive towards because I am very passionate about my career goal as well.
I’m not a mom but if I were and my child informed me that he or she does not want to go to college but wants to pursue a career dream, I would encourage my child to go to college first or at least enroll and attend a two-year community college or some type of specialized trade school; but if he or she insisted on not going to college, I would urge him or her to read often by purchasing books, on a variety of subjects, in order to self-educate and enhance their knowledge. Also, my child would need to be following in his or her career driven dream by attempting to enter that profession or working towards enhancing and developing it daily and not just remaining at home doing nothing most of the time. I would support their career dream 100% because when you love what you do for a living, it is one of the greatest feelings in the world! However, I would tell him or her to set a time frame to achieve that specific goal. By the way, I returned to college years later because I wanted to change my career, and I learned so much which has been very beneficial to me.
Absolutely. It’s a fine line. I already started telling my daughter that she’ll be going to college, but there may come a time when she may say college isn’t for me, blank is. I’ve seen so many people find success without a degree. I wouldn’t want her to just go along with tradition just because. I want her to do what she feels passionate about.
Thanks Vanessa! I appreciate you stopping by and reading.
I recently read a book called ” I am that girl”. In the book she talks about how she wanted to attend an expensive university. Her parents couldn’t afford it but her mom said ” we can’t but you can”. With that phrase she knew she could so she buckled down and did.
I wanted to go to school for theater but was told I would not be supported. No one ever told me I could. And that is something I will never do. I trust my parenting and my childrens own common sense to know how to make wise decisions that I support.
And I do not let anybody tell me what I can and cannot do anymore!
My husband and I have had a lot of conversations about this. I was pro-college because I went to a traditional university. My husband went to art school and has more of an entrepreneur spirit. We came to the conclusion that the traditional college is not the “end all, be all”, but education is. Our kids won’t have to go to college if it’s not necessary. However, we expect them to learn about their industry. Find a mentor, someone to let them be an apprentice. Go through a training program. Do online courses. Go to conferences. Read. Take an active part in getting to the next level. With the right drive and effort (or a full scholarship–if they do go to college), they will hopefully save themselves a lot of the time and money.
Being as I hated my college experience, I would be just fine if my children told me they wouldn’t be going to college. However, that does not mean I don’t expect them to have a plan. If they aren’t going to college, they need to go to trade school, start a business, travel to do missionary work, etc. The truth is, college isn’t for everyone. As an A student in high school and college it certainly wasn’t for me. It’s about time people stopped having that, “go to college or you are a failure in life” mentality and start recognizing that a truly determined person will be a success with or without college.