Three years ago my life drastically changed when my husband of 19 years decided he wanted a divorce. I had always been a wife and a mother and only worked part time through the majority of my marriage. Having married at 19, I never thought too much about going to college. I always thought I wanted to be a stay at home mom and never thought too much about what my life would be like once the children grew into adulthood. Now, at 41 years old, I realize how horrible a decision I made by not getting my college education sooner. Trying to go back to school while working full-time and raising two kids on my own is not fun. It’s a struggle to find that right balance of being a good student but also being a good mom. I want to make my kids proud …show more content…
No one in my family had went any higher than a high school education. It wasn’t drilled into me the importance of getting a degree and having a career, not just a job. I knew going to college was going to take commitment, compromise and sacrifice. There was quite a bit of weighing the pros and cons when it came to deciding to go back. What did I want to be when I “grew up” so to speak? Where did I want to go to school? I knew I had to continue working full-time due to finances. Would I be able to handle a class load along with all the other responsibilities I had? There is a sentence in the article, Becoming a Critic of Your Thinking that really stuck out to me. It said, “Good thinkers routinely ask questions in order to understand and effectively deal with the world around them” (Elder and Paul). That was exactly what I was doing when making the decision to further my …show more content…
It seemed like everywhere you looked there were “Now Hiring” signs. But I have also lived through times where the economy was not very good. Employers these days can afford to be pickier about who they hire. Jobs that before didn’t require a college education may now expect that of their applicants. The expansion of job opportunities is just another one of the perks to having a college degree. I knew I wanted to go into a field that had long term growth for job opportunities. I knew I wanted to do something where I could feel like I was making a difference. Researching careers lead me to decide that I wanted to become a Registered Nurse. Nursing is the largest occupation within the healthcare system with many different areas of specialization. The job outlook for nursing should have a 16% growth rate by the year 2024. This is larger than any other profession according to the U.S. Department of Labor (Bureau of Labor Statistics). My goal is to obtain my Associates in Nursing at Guilford Technical Community College and eventually continue my education to receive a Bachelors of Nursing
Although many tend to think going to college and getting a degree is the american dream, that varies, and in most circumstances that isn’t the truth at all. As college prices have soared over the past few decades, and student debt becoming evermore of a factor in the decision of going to college has been increasingly difficult.
In paragraph 2-4 he first argues that statistically it 's not logical for people in the bottom 40% of their class to go college because they most likely drop out. Then he argues that its a waste of time to go to college then drop out because they’ll usually not even have learned anything. Lastly, he argues that even if they d go to college, once they graduate it’s still unlikely they’ll find a job that their degree was worth.
Imagine the senior year of high school when students are poised to enter college and become adults. It's a time of responsibility, of being on one's own, and of shaping lives by making daily decisions. One of the major decisions is where to attend college. Should a person stay close to home and attend an in-state school where people and even campuses are somewhat familiar? Or should the decision be to start a completely new chapter in one's life by attending a college farther away, with totally new challenges? I believe the answer is definitely to leave town.
Returning to College as an Adult Coming to college as an adult, we have many expectations and preconceptions of what college will or will not be. The expectations we have can influence our college life for the better or the worse. My experience since starting college has been an interesting one. People have misconceptions about college because they do not know what to expect. After doing some research, I have concluded that there are three major factors that are often misunderstood about college life.
Going back to school at 30 is not the same as going back to school at 20, especially when you’re a single parent with an established career. Returning to school never left my mind throughout the years, I received my associates seven years ago and between then and now a lot had changed. So many questions I asked myself; do I have the time, who can help watch my daughter, can I juggle another load, etc. I answered every one of my questions; unfortunately I gave myself excuses instead. The decision going back to school was overwhelming because it was taking up another full time job; making it a priority and possibly putting in overtime to study and do homework.
In past years, when people were talking about higher education, they had no hesitation to mention university immediately. When others were mentioning that college, like two-years college and community college, also belonged to higher education, sometimes they reacted with a wry smile, and shook their heads. Yes, even if it is for today, university gets the higher appraisal than college, and even somebody think ‘‘college as America used to understand it is coming to an end.’’(Addison,255) As parents, they prefer their children to study in university instead of community college or two-years college, no matter how high of tuition the university it is. They ignore the value of these colleges. Although sometimes college such as community college
Is college worth it ? why should someone go to college ? Most people think college is the only logical option to a successful well paying future, that may or may not be true. In this essay I will be talking about the rhetorical situations of 3 authors each from different texts and a debate that all discuss this topic is college worth it. “Are Too Many People Going to college” by Charles murray, “What is college for” by Gary gutting “University 's Undergraduate Learning outcomes” by the textbook, and the debate “Are Too Many Kids Going To College”. As you can tell all these passages pertain to the same subject.
Many individuals went to college, not for the education, but to continue a tradition set forth by generations of family members. They did not take college seriously, for it was simply the next step, in order to follow through along the path that their family members had paved.
By feeling that way high school graduates feel forced to attend college just so people would not criticize. We live in a society where having a Bachelor’s Degree is a big deal now and not having one means that you are not going anywhere in life. Charles argues that society is the reason why this is happening. “Today, if you do not get a Bachelor’s Degree, many people assume it is because you are too dumb or too lazy. And all this because of a degree that seldom has interpretable substantive meaning”. (Murray 253) I agree with Charles because it is true that society forces people to go to college even if college is not the best option for them. For instance, I took a year off of school right after I graduated high school. During that time my family members, like cousins and aunts would ask me, if I was going to college, what I wanted to major in, and why was I not in school? I was always afraid to answer those questions because I still was not sure what I wanted to do and I did not want to get judged if I said something that they did not approve of. Not going to college made me feel ashamed and guilty just because of my intrusive family. They think that just because someone does not attend college they are automatically on the wrong path and dense. My family reinforces the example that Charles Warren makes
“What do you want to be when you grow up?” Is a question most children hear from time to time though out their childhood. Most people ponder on that question as they grow up and become adults. The question that usually comes up when thinking about what they what to be when they grow up is “Is college worth it?” Are the risk of the high loans, and the challenge of finding a job after school worth the time of the college education?
As a young girl in school, I always believed that I would one day would be successful and had the hope that a college education would assist me in being successful. I exceled in school even with circumstances such as hurricane Katrina and September 11 and had a thirst for knowledge. At the same time, the teachers that influenced me in life convinced me to attend college for the betterment of knowledge and a potential for a job or a career. However, those same teachers were teaching me textbook methods and no real on hand training that is essential in an education especially a college education. In "Vocation or Exploration? Pondering the Purpose of College”, Alina Tugend ponders the idea of college being either Vocation—job training— or Exploration learning. She starts off by referring to her oldest son is about to graduate high school, but quickly goes straight to the point of her essay with “What exactly is a university education for?” She provides answers such as college is a way to automatically receive a job if one majors in science, technology or a major that can be applied to a changing world that we live
In his essay, Charles Murray responds through many different and well-put points to the highly debatable question of whether or not too many people are going to college. He first states the importance of learning core knowledge in our early education as well as continuing that sort of liberal education in college. But he also states how four-year residential colleges, as well as B.A. degrees, are growing ever more obsolete. Finally, he discusses the importance of job satisfaction and how it may not be directly tied to having a college education. I agree with most of his cases as these were all some things I truly considered when I had to make the decision to continue my education.
The essay starts off with Murray saying of course more people be encouraged to go to college then countering with a yes and no to the question. He agrees that yes getting a education is important but majority of people are going for what they should have learned years before reaching the college level. The way people see college as a way to be success doesn't sit well with him as he gives many reasons to why this is false. The statement "college is seen as a open sesame to a good job and desirable way for adolescents to transition to adulthood." proves this point. He argues that yes getting a education is important but it's not always the best way. The hypothetical example involving a student choosing to go college for business or becoming a electrician. Then giving a example of why he would be probably be better off becoming the electrician rather than going to college to do something he may not be as successful as he could've been if he worked as a electrician helps prove his point. Murray continues to argue that the view about college is flawed that many are better off looking for better options rather than following the crowd and going to college.
A challenge that all seniors face at the end of their high school career is the decision that will shape the rest of their future. Will it be Harvard, Ivy Tech, or a job at the nearest fast food joint? Of course, there is nothing wrong with not going to college, but for the people of society who plan to marry and have at least three children, it is almost essential. After making this decision, the seniors who choose to attend college must then decide which one. Campus size, housing, nearby activities, and available degrees and study programs are all important traits to consider when searching for the perfect college.
... Academy, I didn’t see encouragement on getting into colleges or passing classes, but instead stress the students out with no choices in life. Its a ride or die situation for them, and I feel bad, because learning shouldn’t be a one cause type of thing such as getting in colleges. “Education is not entitled, on this subject, to recommend any set of opinions as resting on the authority of established science. But it can supply the student with materials for his own mind, and helps to use them.” (Mills 149) What Mills is saying is that just push children in the right direction, let them be independent and work on their own future using the education they learned. Allow children to make their own choices, they can either end up happy or unhappy, either way by acknowledging the fact that they showed independence shows growth, and growth equals to a happier education.