I remember a couple of articles. I don't have access to either now. But there was that study article loveis mentioned and there were some cover story Awake articles in early 1995 the year I graduated high school. One thing stands out in memory. One or both of those articles said the purpose of any education beyond high school should be to support the person in the full-time service. When I read the earlier study article, I still had no plans for going to college. Later in the middle of my senior year, I changed my mind convincing myself that the only way I would be able to work part-time and support myself in the full-time service would be to get a bachelor's degree. My parents were supportive, fortunately. I had convinced myself that with a degree in electrical engineering, I could open some sort of electronics repair shop, work part-time, make enough money to move out on my own and pioneer. It wasn't particularly logical thinking, but it jived with my JW beliefs, which aren't particularly logical either, and was a way to justify my post-secondary education. When that Awake came out, it made me feel a little better about my decision. As I went through college, I kind of let that plan slide and decided I'd go for regular job somewhere when I got out, which is what I did.
The change in the "generation" teaching probably also factored into my decision. We had always been taught the generation of 1914, so I didn't think I was going to grow old in this "system". All of a sudden dying of old age in this "system" was a possibility although I was still thought I should be serving God to the end. So employment skills became a little more important to me. I did not buy into that "trust God and he will magically make food appear on your table" crock. Although I was still convincing myself that this was the right religion, I thought perhaps I had better work in harmony with my prayers to God and my trust in God. It's not in the Bible, but I thought the phrase "God helps those who help themselves" was a wise one.
I never got any direct grief about my education from the elders. The only time I lost privileges (privileges being microphone duty, attendant, etc) was when my field service hours average went below 10, but they gave them back when they needed some workers, so there were no repurcussions there. There were some vague discouragements from the platform and maybe a little stronger from visiting elders. I do understand that elders and overseers in other areas were much more harsh about this. However, I doubt I would have paid attention to any demand to quit school. My beliefs at the time were that "God's Kingdom could come 5 years or 500 years from now and still be in this "generation" under the new definition (Really, if you think about that definition, it's indefinite. But they continue to try to push that urgency feeling.) and if I happened to grow old in this system, it would be my responsibility alone to support myself financially. They certainly weren't leaving me any large inheritance.
