I've worked construction all my life up untill recently, and it's OK when you're younger, but not something to spend your whole life at because your body will wear out, and you'l get burned out on working in the rain, snow, and freeze. Don't expect to make that much either.
Go to college, and get a degree at anything - it at least shows potential employers that you are reasonably intelligent, and can follow through. You can do construction on the side.
^^^This.
If you take a look at any construction crew, very few will have gray hair. Same thing for mechanics, welders, etc. I've been around the construction and repair trades for many years. IME, your body(or one part of it-especially the knees) does wear out a lot sooner than in other types of jobs.
Since you're a smart guy, how about researching college majors where you can build stuff: robotics, etc? Hey, you might even get interested in psychology where you can help rebuild lives. It's all in how you look at things!
Like what was said before, I concur with the statement "college is good for your brain."
My story is: I graduated in Developmental Psychology (basically child development) from UC Santa Barbara. I did research into a whole lot of areas surrounding how we develop into who we are. My research papers were always considered the best in my class. Subsequent to graduation, I went on to change directions and studied accounting, eventually passing the CPA exam and then moved on to networked PC's and accounting software consulting, putting together systems for all types of business doing design, installations, training and trouble shooting.
What I learned at UCSB has always held me in good stead throughout the years, especially being able to problem solve and writing pretty well w/o too much effort. Bottom line, you never know what opportunities may arise over the years and that somewhere along the line, you may want to change careers. The more you know, the more you know.
If you're really into building stuff, seems to me that this would have become evident as you were growing up. Have you had any summers jobs or internships in any of the trades? Do you have any hobbies that included using power tools and large sheets of plywood or reading schematics? Do repair or build basses?
I mean, it's one thing to talk about being interested in something and actually doing it. Do you and your family know anyone that actually is an auto mechanic, welder, carpenter, etc? Maybe they can put you to work so can really decided if you're "interested" in trades or it's just something cool to talk about because you get attention from your family for being contrary. Look into taking an aptitude test to find out where your skills are focused. Since you have teachers in your family, maybe they can find out where the best place is near your home to do this.
Hey, my mom and dad were both teachers/administrators for over 30 years each. I thought that's really not for me. Looking back, it's something that I should have investigated because they got time off and nights/weekends were basically free time.
I went off in other directions where I didn't really have time for gigging and such. Bottom line is that my parents let me choose so I don't have anyone else to blame but myself for my decisions (as it should be) and I've done alright for myself, just wish I had checked things out more thoroughly before I made my decisions.
One alternative is to investigate your local trade colleges and unions to find out exactly what's required to learn the skills and what's available for apprenticeships. Some may require only a couple of years. You can go to college later, perhaps.
One example: maybe becoming an industrial electrician would interest you. One of my long time buddies studied drafting in high school. Basically learned on the job by doing a trade school program and then worked at different companies until he now is the head electrician for a company. He also a great rock guitar player (no guitard here).
IME, doing a lot of home work on all this stuff will help lead you to a better decision. You may change your direction later, but at least youll know what the basis was for making your initial decision.
One other thing to think about, college is not cheap and if your parents are willing to pay for it now, possibly they won't pay for it later. Thats something to discuss with them as well. Maybe theyll agree to still pay for college after you work in the trades for a few years, if you agree to attend college at a specific time in the future. Just an idea.
Once you have all the information available that you can find, start having discussions with your parents, educating them on what you find out. They seem like reasonable people and the more they know about you're thinking about and how you see things, I think theyll begin to see that youre a very responsible person and looking to make the best decision for YOU.
Good luck.
. (I don't know if things are as bad as that in the US, but it seems to be quite common at the mo in the UK).
