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".
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:
1. As soon as four years after highschool, you start college after getting some life experience and visiting new locations.
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.
3. When you do go to college, it'll be paid for in full (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-9/11_Veterans_Educational_...). 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?
