THERE are indeed many ways to start one’s career. You can graduate from high school and work at a fast food stop. Or you can go to a community college. The advantage of going to a community college is that you’ll immediately be admitted to a regular college or university after graduating within two years. The university admissions staff can see that a college applicant is really interested to pursue his chosen field of interest if you do well in your community college program. Students in the community college do not pay their tuition; they are subsidized by the state you’re living in. Community colleges are owned by the states in your area and only the most excellent high school graduates are admitted there. If you’re really that good during your community college days, you may take the university academic scholarship exam. But that’s just one of the ways to enter college without paying the tuition. If you’re good in sports, then you may apply for varsity scholarship. What’s essential is you’re an indigent – that you really can’t afford college tuition and other miscellaneous fees. But there’s still another way to get a career started – just apply for student loans. The good news in student loans is you’re allowed 30 years to pay. That simply means that you’re given the chance to jumpstart your career first and eventually earn in it in a lucrative way before you’ll pay off your loan. Yet another way to begin one’s career is to serve in the military. After you have satisfied your two tours of duty and you’ve saved enough money, then you can pay off your college tuition already. Another way is to enroll in an online or correspondence school. There are very minimal expenses involved if you’re enrolled in these types of educational institutions because you’re already bereft of laboratory fees and other hidden expenses associated in enrolling in a regular school. In a regular school, you will pay for transportation expenses going to school and back to your dormitory, you will pay for boarding fees in your dormitory, you will pay for your meal expenses all day long.

Preparing for your college life begins during your junior year in high school. You must consistently attend college fairs organized in your high school. Colleges and universities near your area usually visit your high school and their admissions staff hold on-the-spot interviews to junior students. Your files will be archived and will be retrieved later once you’ve decided to apply.

If you’re a minority student, you can apply for scholarship either at the United Negro College Fund, the American Indian College Fund or the Hispanic College Fund, whichever appropriate.

Continuing education is another way to improve one’s career. Even if you’re a physician or a lawyer, you must constantly enhance your skills by attending one-week courses. Some of these seminars are even mandatory and if you’ve failed to attend any of these, your accreditation will be suspended. So don’t be ashamed to study even if you’re not young anymore.

THERE are several ways to start a career. The first one starts when one graduates from high school. The person will take a total of three odd jobs in a day all comprising of three-hour shifts each. He or she may work as a crew in some 7 Eleven. Or take a job as a grocer in a Wal Mart outlet. Or maybe assist your father in a coal mine. Once you’ve saved some bucks, you can now fund your way to a vocational school or to a regular college. Vocational schools relatively cost less because a particular program has duration of only one semester or six months. Then you can proceed to a regular college because you’ll have the edge already by then. College admission staff typically approve immediately all applications from persons who have already undergone some form of vocational training. If your money is still not enough to fund a four or five-year college program, then there are three ways. I say a five-year college program because some engineering courses take eight semesters to finish.

The first way to fund your college education is applying for a scholarship. There are two kinds of college scholarships in the United States – the academic scholarship and the athletic scholarship. To ensure passing the academic scholarship, you must have good grades in high school, you must pass the SAT excellently and you must prove that your family’s annual income does not exceed a certain stipulated limit. To pass the athletic scholarship, you must prove your prowess in a particular sport, say ice hockey or football.

The second way to fund your college education and eventually jumpstart your career is through availing of student loans. Student loans have low interest rates and have a repayment period of as long as 30 years. For sure, you’d be a multimillionaire by then. These student loans are granted either by the government or by private lenders.

The third way to fund your college education is to of course enlist in the Army or the National Guard. After two tours of duty, you must surely have enough fund to cover not just four academic years of tuition but also boarding, transportation, utility and other related expenses.

Once you’ve graduated from college, you are now prepared to embark your career. By the way, while you’ve having your job already, you will still be enrolling in future programs such as one leading to a masteral’s degree perhaps. However, these continuing adult education programs will already be sponsored by the company you’re working for. So don’t worry, everything will be smooth sailing from the start. Just pray to the heavens that luck be always on your side.

And once you’re on the job already, do not forget to mix pleasure with your work. Always remember that stress has a negative impact on one’s health and if one is incapacitated to work anymore because of health factors that will really defeat the purpose of enhancing one’s career, right? So have fun at work and be healthy.