People bucking the norm like OP are a big step towards a better and more critical attitude towards education, and one which I think would help lots of people be

People bucking the norm like OP are a big step towards a better and more critical attitude towards education, and one which I think would help lots of people be happier in their lives. And that, right there, is the crux of it. It's not about whether college is or isn't necessary per se; it's about doing it for the right reasons, and recognising what those genuinely are, quite apart from the incumbent force of Tradition and the very deliberate propagandistic meddling of its institutional exponents.