I would have posted to your blog, but my fully legitimate credentials returned: "We think this might be spam.
Sorry! To verify your identity, please log in and try your comment again".<p>Something that strikes me as ideal (for the target audience I imagine your article is written for), is enlisting in the Armed Forces (Any DoD branch or the Coast Guard) as the benefits are threefold:<p>1. As soon as four years after highschool, you start college after getting some life experience and visiting new locations.<p>2. You get some job experience to apply to your academic experience, with 6 years in you could graduate with more than 4 years of applicable industry experience with expensive (read "cutting edge") equipment.<p>3. When you do go to college, it'll be paid for in full (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-9/11_Veterans_Educational_Assistance_Act_of_2008" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-9/11_Veterans_Educational_...</a>). Not to mention a possible sign-on bonus (often $5,000+) that you did remember to put into a Savings Account four years ago, right?