Okay, so it has been what, 9 months since I last posted on this blog? Perhaps it’s time to return.

Here’s a topic that came across my mind today: Web-based incomes, global opportunities, & changing educational expectations. Some of you know that I left librarianship to be an expat in Buenos Aires.

What I’m really curious about are teenagers with Web-based incomes and global opportunities. If you’re 17 and making $1k a month from some type of online income (blogging revenue, affiliate marketing, SEO work, etc), then you can afford to move to many parts of the world, particularly Latin America or southeast Asia and live very comfortably. Presumably, you would continue investing your time and energy into more entrepreneurial Web activities in order to diversify your revenue streams. In this scenario, for these kids, what is the role of college?

Sure there’s that wonderful idea of being a learned person (and I fully support that) but, seriously, any of us who have worked in higher education knows sadly that most students are in college to prepare them for the workplace, to earn a living, that’s their motivation.

But if you’re a teenager with already a good income and bright prospect for more, all without that college degree, then what’s your incentive to spend four or more years at a university?

If you’re a parent, what would you say to your teenager who just informed you that he’s skipping college, taking his Web-based income and moving to Buenos Aires or Thailand?