It was difficult to accept that I was going into college undeclared. It seemed as if everyone else in my grade already knew their true calling in life; several of my classmates were planning to major in psychology, another in business, and even one friend going into a specialized art therapy program. Being an immigrant and a soon-to-be first-generation college student, I felt the pressure to choose something, anything, just to prove that I had at least stepped foot onto the path of success.
Over the course of my high school years, I’ve made it my mission to expand my horizons in an attempt to figure out what I want to do in life. I’ve signed up for nearly every course, elective, and extracurricular activity that has managed to pique my interest.
College is not for everyone, although, everyone should have some form of higher education. "Should everyone go to college?" is an essay meant to inform students of the pros and cons of going to college. Owens and Sawhill state that the cost of a college degree may not be worth the money that students put into furthering their education. In their article, Owens and Sawhill use three different rhetorical appeals; egos, logos, and pathos; to persuade the readers to think consciously about attending college. Their argument was effective because it forces the readers to look at the overall college experience in different aspects.
In the reading “Who Goes to College” written by Cecilia Rodriguez Milanes I was able to see myself in her situation. When she was a senior she had no idea what she was going to do her following year, all she knew was that her parents wanted her to attend college. She always wanted to work, she liked being able to provide for herself but her parents always told her that college would come first. She had no clue of how college worked, what classes she would take or what she would do there. After all the confusion she had of what college truly is, she began to love it. I believe that Cecilia Rodriguez chose the right path, even though she was not completely sure of what she wanted to do she always worked hard and never let any obstacle put her
In Paul Toughmay’s “Who Gets to Graduate,” he follows a young first year college student, Vanessa Brewer, explaining her doubts, fears, and emotions while starting her college journey. As a student, at the University of Texas Brewer feels small and as if she doesn’t belong. Seeking advice from her family she calls her mom but after their conversation Brewer feels even more discouraged. Similar to Brewer I have had extreme emotions, doubts, and fears my freshman year in college.
In Jennie Capo Crucet 's essay, “Taking My Parents To College,” Crucet describes her own experience as a freshman college student who was faced with many challenges that were unknown to her, as well as the cluelessness of what the beginning of her freshman year would look like. I felt like the biggest impression Crucet left on me while I was reading her essay, was the fact that I can relate to her idea of the unknown of college life. Throughout her essay, she described her personal experiences, and the factors one might face as a freshman college student which involved the unknown and/or uncertainty of what this new chapter would bring starting freshman year of college. Crucet’s essay relates to what most of us
My transition to college was successful, but it was nonetheless one of the most stressful times in my life. Unlike many of my peers at Saint Louis University, my rural high school experience did not truly prepare me for the academic rigors of college. Despite extensive preparation, I performed rather poorly on the first round of exams. While I didn’t fail any particular exam, my performance was seriously lacking. I knew that getting C’s on exams would not serve me well in the pursuit of my dream of becoming a physician. I remember feeling, for the first time in my life, that I was unintelligent and incompetent. I was also heavily fatigued from the excessive hours of studying, which I felt were necessary to reconcile the problem. I managed to
Attending college is worth it. Students who get a college education and graduate have many more life changing opportunities than those who don 't; the debates of studying after high school has been ongoing for many years but statistics have proven that majority to all students who go to college achieve more life goals than the average high school graduate. They get more work benefits, life skills, higher paying salaries, etc. There is a downside to everything in life such as debt is to college education. However, the price students pay is so small compared to what the benefits they receive after graduating from college.
You go three years of high school preparing for college and at the same time having fun. Until you are in your senior year of high school that’s when you realize and start asking your self what college do I want to go to? Or what college career I want to pursue? That’s when you notice you have but so little time to answer these questions. Me I’m in my last year of high school and I though I already knew what career I wanted to pursue, but its now that I notice that not even I know what I’m going to do with my life? All I’m sure of its that I’m going to graduate out of high school with a diploma and that I’m going to college. But what happens after that? What major did I study? Or where did I go to accomplish my goal?
Starting college is an intense and confusing event that plagues all recent high school graduates. It is like trying to run when all you can do is crawl, and for many freshmen, myself included, one can get easily overwhelmed by the daunting task of picking a major when less than two months ago some of our parents still packed our lunches for us every morning. The concept of entering college tends to be frequently skewed and expecting an eighteen year old to decide what they want to do for the rest of their lives, without having them actually experiment in different areas, has the potential to create a generation of adults who are aggravated and depressed in their careers.
Some students say they have known from an early age what they want to do after college. They choose a college that best fits their vision, choose each course cautiously, and then enter their chosen career after college or graduate school. Other students have only a faint sense of direction before beginning college. They take a myriad of courses, select a major only when they reach the point where they must, and then, after college, choose to work in an entirely different field. I was the former when I first entered UB, or so I thought.
I always notice within high school movies and real-life that students struggle to decide who they want to be and major in. The pressure got to me and I tried to rush things, trying to figure out what I wanted to be so I did research and I tried out multiple assets for each career. But then I learned that I was looking to hard and that I should
...new classes, I soon realized what would be the biggest challenge of college: deciding on a major. Yes, I am one of those people who started college without first declaring a major. I soon heard every question, suggestion, and response regarding possible options. I even began concocting false majors to throw some people off. Large-Scale Demolition was a crowd favorite.
As the end of my senior year in high school approached, I had to make an important decision. What school was I going to spend the next few years of my life at? When the financial aid packages arrived, I was torn between two colleges. After sitting down with my mother and discussing the advantages and disadvantages of both schools, I came to my final decision. It seemed like a year ago I was imagining what college life would be like and suddenly before my eyes, I would be a college student in a matter of four months.
It is the summer before senior year. Casually chilling by the lake, eating ice cream, but then it hit me like a ton of bricks, college is a year from now. It was a crazy fact to think about. Applying to schools and scholarships was going to become a priority. Here is the real question: where to start? First, discover what size of college would feel most comfortable in. Next, choose a variety of colleges to apply for and visit them. Then, decide what college gives a warm, welcoming feeling and knowing it is the place to fit in.
As a freshman, I was conflicted about what I wanted out of college. At the time, I naively believed that I would major in Neuroscience and Arabic while completing plenty of biomedical research on the side. Perhaps I would also sign up for a few clubs here and there and thus produce the perfect resume for medical school. In the following year, I realized that my heart was not into the breakneck agenda I planned for myself and I started to reevaluate just what exactly I wanted to pursue in my undergraduate experience. With the aid of many advising sessions I gained a clearer picture of my passions, which as I had come to realize, were what I truly wanted to work towards. Among my interests is Global Health -- in particular, I wish to learn more
As I am preparing for a new chapter in my life, I have put a lot thought in about what I want out of life and what to look forward to as I get older. In order for one to achieve anything, they need to set goals to reach for. I have a handful of goals for my future, short term and long term, that I will actively work towards in my college years and beyond. In my time at UW Eau Claire, I plan to be involved and engaged in student activities on campus. Being active will help me meet new people, build a better resume, and have fun at college. At UWEC, I would like to get involved in anything musical, along with various clubs and Greek life. Similarly, another goal of mine is to have a job on campus. Having a job will not only help me make some