I want to do something either in the horticultural or agricultural field and I'm currently a senior and high school. I applied to a trade school and a college for horticulture and one college for agriculture. I should get accepted into at least one of those.

A friend of mine recommended that I look into a few help exchange programs, where I work on a farm, and in exchange I get the education experience along with free meals and somewhere to stay.

The advantage of a school education is that there's proof I have experience and a lot of jobs prefer it. The disadvantage is the cost. With the help exchange it's free and in my opinion it would give me a better education experience, but unfortunately unless I'm definitely going to be a farmer, employers are going to think I'm a retard. I definitely don't have my mind set in stone, but I'm looking for some opinions.