Trade skills are incredible and the people I know that went into those industries are generally a lot more happy all around than people who have office jobs. I remember when I was in high school how it seemed as though the guidance counselors were actively trying to discourage anyone from pursuing those fields and we were endlessly visited by college reps with bogus statistics about income levels that can be expected with a college degree.

I did both. I have a degree in construction management but I really believe that the real skills I have was by doing, not by learning. The degree opened doors for me as far as getting my construction business going, but I wouldn't have been able to manage something like that if I didn't know how to do the work myself. I think that if a lot of people could go back in time they would have attended a community college and learned something hands on rather than getting a degree in something like Business or Sociology.