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.