I hated the "college" talk when I first started teaching. I was in a building where most of the students were going to be 1st generation high school graduates and 8th graders reading at the 4th grade level. Yet all you heard was college. And they looked at their siblings and older friends who were told the same thing and didn't make it in college and so it was simply telling these kids a reality they didn't see. You could see the ones that were going to be doctors and scientists and teachers. And you could see the ones that wanted to be a chef or own their own food truck and you could see the ones that were going to own their own electrical or plumbing shop yet all we did was bring in speakers to tell them about college. Ton of successful kids came out of that building and I bet less than half ever finished a degree as at that time district wide completion rate of college in 10 years from start was under 20%

Every time the school did a push for college I would talk about trades. It was ridiculous to tell these kids that didn't want to go to college and didn't like school that their future was doomed without it, (talk about creating no hope). I was thrilled when the CTE push came in several years ago. One of the things they got right in Austin in my opinion.