I want to offer an alternative to the 'going to college is the right choice' argument that you're getting from your father and from others here.
I think the idea that you have to go to college/university right out of high school stems from the baby boomer generation's experience - where people tended to be on the same career track for life - and where going to university made all the difference in terms of what career you could have.
To allow you to understand - the fear is, that if you don't go to university now - you never will, and you'll be stuck working deadend jobs for the rest of your life. If you're interested, I write more about it here.
We no longer live in that society. Two key things are different:
- It's now very common for people to change career track more than once in their life. Lots of people these days train in one thing, and then change to something completely different in their late twenties or thirties.
- College now costs a lot of money, and studying saddles you with a large debt.
It's something I'm seeing commonly from my 31 year old perspective - young people going to university, studying the arts, racking up a $30k student loan while doing so, and then having no plan coming out of it.
That was basically my experience personally - I went to university aged 17. Finished my degree, then bummed around doing unskilled labour for a few years, before returning to university aged 26 to do a second degree in computer science.
So by all means - don't go to university, just because 'it's the done thing'.
However - I would echo what some other posters have said - you do need a plan, which you haven't really elaborated in your post.
Personally - I think working in factories, manual labor, or in hospitality is a perfectly legitimate move. As a young person you'll have far more tolerance for it, than you will as a thirty-something year old.
Bottom line:
- It's a perfectly good move to work low end jobs and just enjoy yourself when you're younger and working things out.
- However, you do need to have a plan.
How to deal with your dad
With that as a context - here's what I suggest for dealing with your dad.
Firstly, you need to articulate just what your reasoning is for the life decisions you make. I would suggest putting it into writing - personally I find that's a useful way to sort out what I'm thinking about things.
Secondly, I would take this to your father and have a discussion with him. Perhaps the best thing would be to print what you've written and let him read it, and hopefully you can have a more clear headed discussion. I think what's important is for you to demonstrate that you are thinking clearly about this issue.
The important thing to highlight - is what you'll be doing instead of going to school. It's understandable that someone will think you're making the wrong decision if you don't have a plan.
Finally - if this fails to resolve things with your father - then I think you need accept a non-functional relationship with him. Perhaps talk to you mother about it, or otherwise avoid him.