College is important. It's not because knowledge is important. You can learn
whatever you need many different places (the internet being free and
entry-level part-time jobs being cheaper than free). College is a status
thing. People that go to college are better because people generally consider
people that go to college to be better. Everyone has their reasons, but going
to an institution for several years for the sole purpose of self-improvement
makes you look pretty good. The reason I think that people from college are
better is that if you have the foresight to go to college before working to
get a better life in the long run, you will apply that foresight in day-to-day
operatrions.

Originally, I didn't have that foresight. I thought that because college had
no direct benefits, it had none at all. I finished high school and tried getting
a job. I got some $10/hour part-time positions. College-goers average $60K in
their first year after school, or $15/hour, depending on the source. In some
fields, like medicine, the more years of college, the more money will be made in
a lifetime. In others, like art, college does nothing except make debt, so I can
where this "you don't need college" mentality comes from. The people in the
media don't need college, so they will give out advice against attending.
Unfortunately, that advice does not apply to most people.

Anyway, I'm going to apply for college now that my gap year is halfway over.