In Andrew Braaksma 's essay Some Lessons From The Assembly Line he provides the perspective of a college student learning life lessons from his summer job in a factory and how it showed him not to take his ability to have a higher education for granted. While most students never give it a second thought about not going to college, Braaksma learned from the hard work and low pay to appreciate the opportunities he has. Most college age students have never experienced the struggles of what real life can throw at them. Long hours with low wages, the physically taxing nature of some of these jobs and lack of job security. Having myself worked construction jobs for many years before going back to college his essay could prove invaluable to many students. …show more content…
This holds true in life as students at one point or another will mail it in on their classes. I 'm sure many would change those efforts after spending weeks sweating on a factory floor. As the author states the lessons are nothing new yet have taught him the value of hard work.
The most striking point I have found in Braaksma 's essay is his realization of what his coworkers go through on a daily basis. Yes, the work is hard yet many of the workers have spent a majority of their adulthood with these jobs. The ever looming fear that downsizing and layoffs could be right around the corner leaving them out of work and an uncertain future for their families.
Braaksma says "As frustrating as the work can be, the most stressful thing about blue-collar life is knowing your job could disappear overnight. Issues like downsizing and overseas relocation had always seemed distant to me until my co-workers at one factory told me that the unit I was working in would be shut down within six months and moved to Mexico, where people would work for 60 cents an hour"(Braaksma, 2005).The regret Braaksma felt knowing he would be heading back to college and classrooms while others spend their working years in the factory and he only spends his summer break there. Workers made good wages yet was encouraged by many of his coworkers to continue with his studies so he can do better for himself
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The authors statements in his essay are ones every student coming into college age should hear. Though it is widely known that our economy has been through hard times, it is great to hear the prospective of a college student learning valuable life lessons. The motivation to use this first hand knowledge and see its potential to motivate himself through his studies is a lesson for all students.
Having myself learned these same lessons at a later point in my life, there is no greater value of that than an education. I personally have gone through the hardships that Braaksma points out that the factory workers face at various point in my adulthood, if i could have gained the insight on the importance of a college education at a younger age I may not have had to face some of the struggles I did in the past.
These are lessons I have shared with my own children who are now in high school and will be moving on to college. Braaksmas lessons of hard work, and dedication to his education should be shared with all students. Realizing it is a privilege and not a right to pursue higher education may keep students more grounded and appreciative of their
The characters in this play worked for the Olstead company for generations. Consequently, this physical environment became a major element in their day to day lives. Working for Olstead was critical because of the positive reputation and high wages. Stan, an older main character expresses this in the following quote, "Not many people walk away from Olstead's, cuz you're not gonna find better money out there. You leave, it'll be impossible to get back in. They'll be ten guys lining up for your fucking job" (Nottage, 31). The workers heavily depended on the job, which drilled that idea into their moral environment. Unfortunately for them: "American think tanks report that the booming stock market is widening the income gap between the poorest and richest U.S. families." (Nottage, 13). The company desires more profits, so even though characters dedicated their whole lives to the company, speculation about lay offs began. Tracey, a worker at the company, displays a 'hiring' flier written in Spanish to her fellow coworkers. In this scene, a Colombian man named Oscar translates the flier to them. Little do they know, Oscar will later on work for the company after everyone else is fired and accept a lower wage than the frequent
Blue Collar workers today are looked down upon by most of society. People think that if you have a blue collar job you aren’t smart and not successful. But in my opinion, blue collar workers are the backbone of our society, and deserve the same amount of respect as white collar workers. “Blue Collar Brilliance by Mike Rose” explains how blue collar workers are very smart and use a lot of brainpower to get their jobs done. Both his Uncle and mother were blue collar workers and that’s where he got his inspiration to stand up for blue collar workers around the world. He gives us examples of how his own family members were blue collar workers and how they were smart and how they excelled at their jobs. He uses his own experiences to show us that blue collar workers are in fact smart, able to adapt to many different situations, and deserve respect.
A little girl dreams of a white wedding with white doves flying over the ceremony and the fairy-tale honeymoon. Only then to come home to the yellow house in the country, with the white picket fence included. Everyone has daydreamed about their future and having the “perfect” house, with the “perfect” car and the “perfect” marriage- everyone wants to live the “American Dream”. There are many people that believe that the “American Dream” is a concept that they are entitled to and expected to live. Then, there are those who believe that you should use the opportunities that America offers as a stepping stone to earn and create your own “American dream”. However, as time goes on the mainstream idea of “living the American Dream” has changed. This change is mostly due to the ever-changing economy, professions, and expectations of the American people. Throughout the book Working, by Studs Terkel, we meet many diverse groups of people to discover the people behind the jobs that allows American society to operate and how their choice of a career path has changed their lives.
Many kids beginning the college - decision process may be feeling lost at first, and ”By telling all young people that they should go to college no matter what, we are actually doing some of them a disservice.”(Owen and Sawhill 209) For a seventeen/eighteen year old, going to college is arguably the biggest decision that they have had to make in their life thus far, and having the facts that Owen and Sawhill produce can be invaluable to the decision-making process. It is clear that the purpose of their essay is to better inform these young adults and guide them on their journey that is life after high school. The primary claim that Owen and Sawhill attempt to drive in using rhetorical appeals is that on average, having a college degree will lead to a higher income than not having one; however, it is not universally
In today’s society you either have to work hard to live a good life, or just inherit a lump sum of cash, which is probably never going to happen. So instead a person has to work a usual nine to five just to put food on the table for their families, and in many cases that is not even enough. In the article, “Why We Work” by Andrew Curry, Curry examines the complexities of work and touches on the reasons why many workers feel unsatisfied with their jobs. Barbara Ehrenreich writes an essay called, “Serving in Florida” which is about the overlooked life of being a server and the struggles of working off low minimum wages. Curry’s standpoint on jobs is that workers are not satisfied, the job takes control of their whole life, and workers spend
As the economy evolves and the job market continues to get more competitive, it’s becoming harder to have a successful career without some kind of college degree. This creates a belief in many young students that college actually is a commodity, something they must have in order to have a good life. There’s many different factors that influence this mindset, high schools must push the importance of the student’s willingness and drive to further their education. College isn’t just a gateway to jobs, but it is an opportunity to increase knowledge and stretch and challenge the student which in return makes them a more rounded adult and provides them with skills they might lack prior to
Based on Three Reasons College Still Matters, there are three main reasons why a college education is so important. From an economical standpoint, an education is most of the time needed to earn enough money to live comfortably. Attending and completing college provides a possibility for future economic stability. Within a highly competitive workforce a college degree can put a foot in the door to a job of a person’s choice. Statistics show that people who obtain a bachelor’s degree or higher get paid more than those who do not obtain one. Many question the worth of a college degree because of how expensive it is, though some say that the money spent is an investment on a person’s future. One can say that the worth of a college education is within the eye of the beholder. Many q...
People will argue that having a low-paying job and freedom is better than a high-paying job and a 60-hour workweek. However many including myself, don’t share the views of Hal Niedzviecki’s essay’s “Stupid Jobs Are Good to Relax With”. Having a higher paying and longer hours provides much more income and allows for a lot more financial freedom. This freedom can help bring much more happiness into your life compared to the lower paying workweek. Hal Niedzviecki mentions many benefits to the easy jobs with low-paying workweeks in the following statement
In Caroline Bird’s “College is A Waste of Time and Money”, it’s argued that there are many college students who would be better off if they were to begin working after high school graduation. Colleges and universities can no longer ensure that one will go on to get a better job, getting paid more than they would have without a higher education. However, high school seniors still stress about where they will be attending college, how they’re going to pay for it and what they’re going to study for the next four years. Bird points out how college has changed over the past few decades and how, in turn, it has set many young adults up for disappointment, if nothing else.
During high school, whether it is by a teacher, parent or classmate a student will be advised to go to college. “College is where you find yourself,” they will say. College is made to seem as the place where students will attain a brilliant education, thus making them feel as though once they are done with the schooling, a dependable job of high pay will appear for them. In our society, college is not a scarce option, but rather, an expectation. For many graduating high schoolers, college is the next step. Attaining a college degree is not necessary for creating a life for us as our civilization makes it out to be.
Looking through the article and looking at student’s current predicament, we first ask the big question “is college worth it?” Well, coming up as a kid I was told about the greatness of college by my parents. I like many kids was raised
William Butler Yeats used to say, “Education is not filling of a pail but the lightning of a fire.” As what I have mentioned above, I firmly believe that college education is absolutely worth its cost, and accepting and taking college education is generally the only way to bring all the graduates a getter beginning of their entire lives.
With the cost of education rising and no stop in sight, many students are beginning to question the worthiness of a college education. It is commonly known that individuals who go to school will make more money over their life time compared to someone who does not. This is a great motivator for many wanting to go. An article written by The Economist
A college education can broaden one’s career horizons and help them achieve stable employment. Through education one can expand their intellectual capacity along with financial scope. “ The median person with a bachelor 's degree earns about $48,000 per year, compared with $27,000 for a high school graduate, according to the U.S. Census Bureau” (Haltom 14). A college education should allow one to thrive both internally and externally, whilst progressing society along with them into the ever-changing world. These statistics represent the aspired
Many people as children are told that going to college would be the best decision to make if they wanted to become a successful person in their life. People who missed out on going to college say that they regret not going to college when that had the chance to. At an early age it’s drilled into are heads that going to college is the best choice to make. We are told that at a young age and it follows us till we get to high school. Teachers, parents, and peer encourage us to go to college, if we would like are dreams to come true. Although, it’s shown that students who go to college are able to earn more money than an employ with a high school diploma. What people don’t know is that college requires planning and having a goal set in mind, and we may not have those things plan out and fall short a the finishing line. Despite all the benefit college previse, many college student have trouble pursuit of their goals due to academics problems, working while attending class, and financial problem.