Valuing Degrees over Learning: A College Dilemma

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There are multiple reasons why a person would go to college, but obtaining a degree is a common goal for most. A degree, students believe, would secure their futures and push them more towards their desired career, but does this imply that they value the degree over the learning process they go through to obtain it? According to Cathy Small in her essay, “My Year as a Freshman: Connections to the Path Ahead,” students are eager to learn in college, but continue to credit their experiences outside school in teaching what is most important. Although their experiences in the “real world” teach these students life skills that can be beneficial to them in the future, they can learn lessons just as valuable in the classroom. The pressure to succeed …show more content…

She explains how these relationships might improve and shape college into becoming an ideal, engaging learning environment for students. Explaining what she thinks university faculty should do to prepare students for their futures, Small tells her readers she “[does] not know yet what making the academy/real world connection fully entails.” Colleges do provide sufficient internship and job opportunities for students, but in a sense, the college experience itself can serve as a preview on what to expect in the “real world.” Once students graduate and get their degrees, they may no longer have to stress about academics, but they will still have several other responsibilities, such as their careers, money, and family to balance. They will experience an even broader form of diversity, continue to make connections and meet people who have different ideas and opinions. If college gave students so many options to pave their path to the “real world,” the “real world” will open even more options for them to plan the rest of their

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