America Is A Land Of Opportunity Essay

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Many people claim that America is a land of opportunity. A place where we are told that anyone has the ability to achieve anything as long as you work hard and have dedication. At the same time, we see people from lower class families struggling with the higher education system. There is a large gap between the upper and lower classes of America regarding who is getting into college and who is actually graduating from these institutions. Upper class Americans have far more opportunities and advantages in higher education compared to the lower class in the United States and it seems as though class status is unmentionable. No one wants to talk about it and people get upset when it is used as a reason for the large contrast between certain …show more content…

Lower class students are nowhere near as prepared for a higher education compared to those students who come from wealthier backgrounds. I went to South Bend Clay High School for four years and ranked top ten in my class. I remember graduating and my parents would brag about my ranking and how great my grades were. I was offered a wide variety of scholarships and was excited to go on to college to further my education. My first year of college could not have been anymore different compared to high school. I attended Indiana University of South Bend from 2011-2013 and barely passed most of my classes. My education in high school did not prepare me for the diverse learning environment in college. The classes were more complex and required critical thinking. Critical thinking is a skill that is not emphasized in public schools today. Teachers are teaching students what to think instead of how to think per the statewide curriculum causing students like myself to not be prepared for the independent nature of college education. I ended up falling so behind at IUSB that I took a year off and re enrolled in school at Ivy Tech Community College. My situation is just one of the many that a lot of individuals face. The quality of our public education system is greatly affecting the way individuals will perform in college. Leonhardt states “People who don’t finish suffer a blow to their confidence”. They are also in debt and are not able to continue in classes until they start paying off their debt. This creates a mindset that college is too difficult and in the end just not worth

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