Here is how my view of education evolved.
I grew up in the 80's, so education was basically taboo. You could finish High School, but college was still verboten. Anyone who went to college was practically marked as bad association and was ostracized in the congregation. If you quit High School and pioneered, you were still looked up favorably. It was never "encouraged" to quit high school, but it certainly wasn't frowned up by most Witnesses either.
As a kid, I was identified as a gifted student. I sailed through elementary school, and entered junior high by enrolling in advanced classes. Due to illness, I missed a great deal of 7th and 8th grade, and got behind. My grades suffered so I was put into "regular" classes. As I entered 9th grade, I turned 14 and got baptised, so my views of education were all dictated by the organization. I knew I wasn't going to college, so why bust my tail to get a high grade point average? I knew I was still a very bright, intellingent kid, but I scoffed at school from there forth. I did the minimum to get by. College was still taboo (I graduated in 1990) and the pressure not to attend was stifling. As I began high school, a friend of mine at the hall was the son of two teachers - he had perfect grades and received a full-ride scholarship to a local university. He attended for one semester, but was so ostracized he quit and started pioneering. Thats right - a full ride scholarship given up due to peer pressure. He attributed it to have an "awakening" and a new found desire to pioneer, but we all knew that was garbage. So, I wasn't going to put myself through that misery......
As a young man with health problems, I knew I would never last as a full time pioneer. I did it for one year, and was so sick. So, here I was 20 years old, with a mediocre high school grade point average, and missed opportunites. I bounced around from a few jobs, and I started and stopped college for 10 years. I knew I wanted a degree, a skill to go with that degree, and also the satisfaction of achieving further education. Of course, as soon as I got serious about it, I was appointed an elder. My time was thus taken up serving up "spiritual food" to the congregation and taking the lead in service, so my dream was deferred further. However, i became a zealot for education - I encouraged every kid I could to take high school serious, seriously consider if they really, really wanted to pioneer (since I never wanted to do it, but I did out of peer pressure), and seriously consider furthering their education. I was blunt and honest with them with my experience. I posted in the other thread of my experience defending a family who sent two daughters to college. When they were attacked by 2 elders regarding it, I imitated Paul and "replied like a madman".......the girls were nice kids, extremely bright, and weren't even baptised. I wasn't going to let them miss out on any opportunity to better themselves, especially by two uneducated bullies.
Finally, I got sick of it and decided to finish my school. I started saying NO at the hall, and went back to college to achieve my bachelor's degree. My career advancement was evident right for the time I got my degree. I got better job offers, and I started making significantly more money. While education is no guarantee for anything, it certainly does open many doors.
My last few years as an elder, I became an outspoken advocate for education. I ruffled a lot of feathers. I had 3 self-employed elders on the body who were window washers and handymen because they could not obtain other employment. While I do not look down on any job, as I have been a custodian and a window washer, I felt bad for 60-70 year old men who had to keep working until they dropped because they couldn't afford to live, much less retire. Their bodies were failing them, but as children of the previous generation, education was scoffed at by Witnesses. A lot of them were genuinely offended by the softened stance toward higher education - some because they were so biased against education, some because they felt screwed by the "old light"