“My end goal is to own my own business and the training isn’t going to college. It’s actually getting your hands dirty.”

Isaac Kallas, 21, is a carpenter who never attended college. Kallas has found satisfaction in entering the workforce directly out of high school, despite many around him attending college.

David Go: What do you do for work?

Isaac Kallas: I’m a carpenter. I work for the Reesmans Company which is based out of Burlington. We mainly do decks – building decks from the ground up. And then also we do pergolas and arbors and a bunch of other random woodworking things.

DG: How long have you been doing this for, and would you say you enjoy it?

IK: Yeah, it’s fun, even though I hate waking up at six to go to work. At least I enjoy what I’m doing in those days. We had a job on a lake, and we were putting decking on an old deck to be decorated and I was just looking outside. And I was like, ‘Oh this is what I am blessed to do. This for a job.’ So yeah, we’ve seen great views. Just outside and being outside is always fun.

DG: To rewind a little bit, in high school were you encouraged to go to college? By parents, teachers, etc.

IK: No,no. My dad didn’t go to college, my mom did. Two of my sisters did – one sister went to Bible college so my parents didn’t really care. I went to Heritage Christian and they really pushed to go to college. I was like ‘I hate school.’ I’m not going to pay, do more schooling when in reality, the thing I wanted to do I didn’t have to go to school for and my parents didn’t care.

DG: Was there a sense of missing out that you felt by not going to college?

IK: I guess a little bit – it’s but it’s more of being really tied down at a job versus, ‘Oh, I don’t get to go play basketball whenever I want or go out and have fun on a weekend or a weekday.’ Like I can’t just go out on a random Monday night or Tuesday night, Thursday night and have fun till midnight when I have to wake up at 6 o’clock. I guess in that aspect it’s a little bit of missing, but in the grand scheme of things, I get a wake up and go to work and have fun at work. So it doesn’t really matter.

DG: So you’re happy with the decision you made?

IK: Oh yeah.

DG: Do you think financially it  made more sense for you to not go to college?

IK: Yeah, I coach at my old high school and there’s a few younger siblings that come up and ask me, ‘Where are you going to college,’ ask me about college all the time. Every time I tell them is just that the thing I wanted to do in life. I didn’t have to go to college. And why would I go to college spend thousands of dollars to go to college when I’m not even going to use a college degree. And yeah, just no point I guess is what I would say.

I don’t have any debt. Why would I pay the money? And I’m already getting paid a decent amount of money. Compared to what my father makes or compared to what my uncle make, I am way below them. But from my starting point to where they were, I’m just as good as them at my own age. Look at my uncle who’s been in the trades for 20 years – he’s been a master plumber for years. That’s an 8-10 year thing. But to see where he’s at and see where my dad’s at, who didn’t go to college and the amount of money they make, I’m better than they were at my age. So that’s fun to look at.

DG: Do you ever do you ever look at other people your age with jealousy that they’re in college? Or that sense of missing out?

IK: Just seeing kids playing basketball because if I really wanted to, I could play college basketball if I really cared. If I was a sophomore and I set a goal to play college basketball, I probably could have played somewhere. And I get asked that all the time. I wish I took that time in high school to play in college. But then I think about it, and I’m just delaying what I’m doing now for four years instead.

DG: Could you see yourself ever going to college?

IK: Heck no, what’s the point? Like? My end goal is to own my own business and the only training or schooling isn’t going to college. It’s actually getting your hands dirty doing the actual workers. Taking classes, yes, I could see that but because my end goal is to do something with restoration. So, I’m going to have to take classes on mold and stuff, just learning those things. But that’s not necessarily college, that’s more of a trade school. But going to a four-year program, staying in a dorm for four years, no. I’d still be working and going to take the class so I can continue my business.

DG: The people you know that are in college or went to college, are they are generally satisfied with their decision?

IK: Honestly, I think the majority of the people that I know who went to college are using the degree or will use the degree. My sister is getting a master’s in psychology and she wants to do social work when she gets back. My other sister got a free education so she went and got a degree so she can be a coach and PE teacher. My cousin and a couple other friends are actually using their degrees, and my best friends – one is a chiropractor so he’s definitely using his degree, and the other one is a mechanical engineer. So all my friends that actually went to college are using the degrees.