I like to write. As a matter of fact, I love to write. I have kept a diary since I was twelve, written and submitted articles to local magazines (none of which have ever been published), even written a book that I plan to publish electronically one of these days. You would think that with writing being such an important part of my life, I would be pursuing a degree in English and a professional writing career. Yet, with the advice of my family and peers and in the interest of financial security, I have chosen to pursue a Bachelor of Science in Accounting. As I’m writing this essay, I am beginning to understand how paradoxical and counterintuitive this decision is but (here comes the rationalization) the opportunity cost of pursuing an in-demand, high paying career is well worth sacrificing a career in writing, which is not as ambitious in the eyes of society. As we all know, perception is reality, however baseless it is. An English degree is just not perceived as being as marketable or desirable as a degree in finance. I, too, ascribe to this particular opinion and I’m no better for it.
According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers website, students who graduated in 2013 enjoyed an average starting salary of $45,327, which represents a 2.4% increase from the average salaries reported in 2012. Graduates with a degree in business earned an average starting salary of $55,635 in 2013, a 7.9% increase from 2012 and is the largest increase of average salary in a particular discipline. Those people graduating with a degree in Education or the Humanities earned on average $40,337 and $37,791, respectively. This information is highly influential when determining what type of degree you want to invest in. No one wants to h...
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...is me and I cannot afford to waste my days perusing the ancient Grecian texts or Sumerian cuneiform writings. The society we live in values hard labor more than labors of love and for that we are all the less. Now you see why I haven’t begun my dissertation on the African diaspora. However, it is us, the college students, the stalwarts of higher education who shape the future and impose on it our will. To be an English major or not to be an English major, that is the question that I ask myself and the decision boils down to the hardest one a college student must make. Do I choose the major I love or the major that pays?
Works Cited
Naceweb.org. 2014. Salary Survey: Average Starting Salary for Class of 2013 Grads Increases 2.4 Percent. [online] Available at: http://www.naceweb.org/s09042013/salary-survey-average-starting-class-2013.aspx [Accessed: 6 Feb 2014].
Thousands of people end up enrolling in college after they graduate from high school. Most of them want to further their education so they can make something out of themselves. It is a common idea among many, that college will end up increasing one’s average income. In the article, The College Payoff Illusion, by Edwin S. Rubenstein, he wrote that “In 1997, college graduates earned an average of $40,508 versus just $23,970 for non-college graduates”. The statistic shows that graduates are making more but does it have more to do with their college degree or their personality?
Wilson, Robin. “A Lifetime of Student Debt? Not Likely.” They Say/I Say: The Moves That Matter In Academic Writing. Ed. Gerald Graff. 2nd ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2012. 256-273. Print.
This notion of success limits creative innovation of thought and pressures people achieve a careers that they may be interest in (grammar problem?). Ho explores this idea in her essay (qtd Peterson 2002) “It’s been common knowledge that many of [Princeton] undergraduates join the financial realm every year, creating a kind of lighthearted, self-deprecating joke about becoming I-bankers and once hopeful novelists heading to Wall Street” (170). The environment around those students was able to force them to change their career options based on what is considered successful by their peers. Despite This idea of success being narrow and not inclusive to everyone, some students felt the need to give up on their dreams and give in to the pressure. This pressure is not exclusive to elite institutions, society as a whole experiences this pressure when trying to pursue a lesser value endeavors. Davidson explores the idea of exclusivity that is created by society when she says “This is the lesson of attention blindness yet again: If you measure narrowly, you see results just as narrowly. In other words, the more standardized our assessment, the more kids fail” (61). The standardized tests that the educational system uses narrows itself to specific skills and talents that society considers important. It limited what students can achieve based on the talents that they acquire. Artistic talents do not have the same value compared to conventional studies. Similarly, elite institutions like princeton and harvard, have also narrowed down what careers are considered successful or worth pursuing. Ho describes this phenomena in her essay “I found not only that most bankers came from a few elite institutions, but also that most undergraduate and even many graduate students assumed that the only “suitable” destinations for life after Princeton-the only sectors
Bird, Caroline. "College is a Waste of Time and Money." The Norton Reader: An Anthology of Expository Prose. 9th ed. Ed. Linda H. Peterson et. al. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1996. 481-490.
Ungar, S. J. (2010). The new liberal arts. In G. Graff, C. Birkenstein, & R. Durst (Eds.). “They say, I say”: The moves that matter in academic writing with readings. (2nd ed.). (pp. 190-197). New York: W. W. Norton. This article looks to prove that liberal arts education is just as valuable as “career education” because contrary to general belief, career education doesn’t guarantee high-paying jobs after they graduate.
Dual Enrollment English was the first real college-level class I ever had. I actually have taken other college-level classes before it, but Dual Enrollment English was the only course that gave me an accurate representation of how college will really be like and what it will expect of me. My journey through Dual Enrollment English began with a sense of fear and self-defeat and ended with a sense of satisfaction and confidence with many highs and lows along the way. This portfolio catalogs the evolution of my writing during my two semesters in Dual Enrollment English including seven different types of papers as well as each of their respective drafts and tutor feedback.
These people earn on average $53,000-$81,000 and are the highestearning graduates.The fact of the matter is, the more you spend the more you will earn. The graph showsthat the more education you have the more you will earn on average. That is due to the betterjobs going to the people with a better education. As I mentioned previously employers usuallyare more interested in hiring the applicants with a better education. Education is one of the mostif not the most important part of getting a job. For example if you want to work as an accountantyou are going to need a good education. You are going to have to get a bachelor's degreeeducation, and sometimes a minimum of 150 semester hours in college coursework to get alicense for accounting. That is just one example of a well paying job that you can get if youfurther your education by paying and going to
People who have a college degree make more money, in yearly earnings and salaries. IN the article actually college is very much worth it,Andrew J. Rotherham reports that “The median weekly earnings for someone with some college but no degree were $712, compared to $1038 for a college graduate.”(87) An average of $324 more a week and an average of almost $17,000 over a year. Getting a college degree can make a huge difference in potential income. That’s compared to people who have gone to college but didn’t get a college degree, the median salary for people who just have a high school degree is even less.
Most people know that having a college degree could get you a higher paycheck. However, what people do not know is how much of a difference that degree could get you. Through a study of more than 6 million employees, it was found that people with a four-year degree make about $215,000 more than people without a degree. In addition, people with a graduate degree can make about $440,000 more over a period of twenty years, according to The Ladders (2013, September 7 p. 1). Three quarters of the highest paying industries, eighty percent professionals hold at least a four-year degree. (The Ladders 2013, September 3 p. 2).
Thomas, C. (2011). Is the American Dream Over? They Say, I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing (2nd ed.). New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company.
Zac Bissonnette, “Your College Major May Not Be as Important as You Think”. New York Times. New York Times. 03 November 2010. Web. 05 Mar. 2014
English in its entirety can be simply described as author, biologist and physician, Lewis Thomas had once said, “We pass the word around; we ponder how the case is put by different people, we read the poetry; we meditate over the literature; we play the music; we change our minds; we reach an understanding. Society evolves this way, not by shouting each other down, but by the unique capacity of unique, individual human beings to comprehend each other” (Thomas 120). The impact literature can bring onto others is simply amazing and is a gift that should be shared with everyone. This spring semester has quickly broadened my perspective. Being that this is my freshman year in college I prodded around ideas of what majors I had interests in. I toyed around with political science, but I found that I spent more time on arguing with what the political figures stood for than actually studying. I was almost certain I wanted to be an interior designer but I became overly fixated on how to properly draw three dimensional boxes to further myself any farther. Truth be told, I am the type of person who rather create something encrusted with detail than something cut in dry like politics or basic shapes. I have always have had a love for literature and especially poetry. At age eight I became a published poet in a children’s book. Even at a young age I knew with words I can create something to quench my need to express how I feel about a certain topic or issue. Therefore I have recently declared myself as a literature major. Through the structured English 1B's course and power of words from authors; Boisseau, Bishop, Glaspell and Ibsen I have gained valuable life lessons .
According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, the starting salary for graduates with a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering averaged $51,343 in 2003, and those with a master’s degree averaged $64,200. The starting salary for graduates with a bachelor’s degree in computer science averaged $47,109.
Some people already know by the age of seven that they want to become a pilot or nurse; others, however, have more difficulties deciding what to do with their future. People who decided to go to a university or college have to make an important choice: what major are they going into? For many people this is a very difficult question. As the statistics show, one out of five students change their major between admission and the first day of classes. Nearly three out of four students change majors at least twice before they graduate. And three out of four college students express uncertainly about their major. These striking results raised some questions for me. Is it really necessary to choose a major? What influence has the choice of a specific major on the student and his or her education? What are the opportunities for the future? And how can these students be helped? Since I am still having trouble choosing a major myself, I decided to do some research on this topic and I hope it will help you a little bit to make the right choice.
The starting salary for a collage grad or someone of equal ability is about 50-60 a year. High positions requiring people with rare intelect and skill pay up to $300,000.00 per year plus benefits. A rare few achiev millions of dollars on independant/self-employed ventures.