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Importance of getting a college education
The importance of college education
Importance of getting a college education
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A college major is one of the most crucial and influential decisions a person will make in his or her lifetime. This important choice has the power to determine what a person will do for the rest of their life. Students across the country are challenged by this task each and every year because they are not able to find a path of study that is compatible with their ideal career and favorable interests. Traditional majors are known for providing broad educations and producing well-rounded students that are ready and able to work in various jobs. However, today it is challenging to break into the work force. Students with more specific studies are finding greater success in their job search after college. For this reason, individualized studies programs have exploded across the country. Individualized studies are a create-your-own-major approach to education. These programs allow students to design and personalize their college education by combining courses from various areas of study. Individualized-studies students leave college with a unique major printed on their diploma. With the opportunity to create their own majors in college, students in individualized studies are receiving personalized educations and realizing their ideal jobs.
Students base their college major choices on their interests. A study published in the College Student Journal, conducted to reveal information about students who are entering college, utilizes extensive research to identify the factors that influence students’ college major decisions. It is based upon the assumption that making “good” major choices is beneficial to the students. A “good” major is defined as one that helps students reach their post-education goals, as well as one that is compatibl...
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... White River Junction, Vt.: Chelsea Green Pub., 2010. 108-128. Print.
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In Matthew Sanders, “Becoming a Learner: Realizing the Opportunity of Education,” he teaches the readers that there is much more to college than the basic material in which we learn. We should approach our college education with an optimistic view on learning both who we truly are, as well as the material for specific job skills. Matthew Sanders states, “I am suggesting that you be more concerned about who you are becoming as a learner rather than about the specific job skills you may be acquiring.” It is vital to our growth in our educational studies. There are so many opportunities that come our way during college.
Throughout this course, topics such as the transition from high school to college, learning skills, self-discovery, and career exploration have been discussed. Conversations occurred concerning the challenges and benefits of private and public colleges as well as the transition from high school to college. We also talked about our strengths and weaknesses while studying. Finally we talked about the jobs that we wanted, and the jobs we would be good at. During the rest of this paper, I will go into more detail about the topics we discussed; and go more in detail with what I learned.
Over the past few years, people have begun to see going to college as a way to achieve the American Dream through career-readiness. People used to go to college, hoping to get a better well-rounded education. For most the well-rounded education, it usually came with the courses required for a liberal arts education. The courses would provide a level of analytical and in-depth understanding that would prepare the students for both life and whichever career path chosen. No matter the amount of money paid, parents would be willing to gi...
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.
An undergraduate that is primarily focusing on a liberal major has the tendency to become lazy. “Colleges have allowed widespread grade inflation and shown increased tolerance of late or incomplete work” (46). A ripple effect swept through the majority of students and led to apathetic habits. The realization of this, made colleges decide what kind of educational opportunity that can help in the improvement of the little effort being put into liberal major responsibilities. “A much more controversial step would be to allow undergraduates to take a small number of elective courses in practical vocational subjects, such as accounting, marketing, or finance”
A college education gives a person the opportunity to be successful in life, either financially or morally dependent on the goals that they set for their life. They will choose a college that offer programs for the major of their choice, where they will specialize and receive a degree. The decision to pursue a higher education will give the opportunity to earn a better income over someone who does not have a degree. College is more of life preparation course that will help make sure a successful career. If a person pursues a career in engineering, physics or mathematics their curriculum would include more liberal art preparation courses, in order for them to earn their degree, so someone pursuing a degree in these types of careers are attending college for job preparation. On December 10, 2009 at Hamilton University in Clinton, New York, college professors debated current college curriculum (Liew). They talked about how their college could make a leap from being good to being great. At the 22nd American Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges conference held in Long Beach California on November 14, 1996 the topic of changing curriculum was discussed (“Mich”). The University of Louisiana, Lafayette, is eliminating its philosophy major, while Michigan State University is doing away with American studies and classics, after years of decline in enrollments in those majors (Zernike). The purpose of a college education is to meet the student's liberal art’s needs so that they can compete and understand the connection between a degree and a job that will enable them to compete with other world economies, give them a well-rounded education that will enable them to earn a higher income, and retain a lifetime full of knowledge.
“Choose something that you’re good at.” This was the advice given to me by my mom before applying to college. “Choose a major that will get you a good job, but also something that you like.” These are the words that came out of her mouth; these are words that say one thing but really mean another.
Students go to college in search of knowledge, a new lifestyle, and the hope of a job after graduation. For many young adults, college is a rite of passage into an independent, mature new lifestyle. Not only is higher education a rite of passage, for some, it is also an opportunity to have a better life. Overall, college is a wonderful part of many people’s lives, yet the way the college education system is conducted wastes students time and money. College is basically composed of two parts: general education classes and major specific classes. General education courses are the source of wasted time and money, and should not be required of students. A few of the problems associated with general education classes are that they are basically a repeat of high school, unfortunately they can be the demise of students, they are costly, and they waste time.
Finishing high school with an honors diploma and many other honors awards, I wanted to keep the momentum through college. With curiosity in business, finance, informatics and language, I wanted to minor in diverse subjects. However, with a goal to graduate in four years, choosing a major that did not allow time for other minors hindered my self-motivation. Thinking I cannot change majors after freshman year of college, on one side I started to limit myself from pursuing my curiosities. Nevertheless, I vigorously pursued the unknown, researching everything I could to find a solution to satisfy my curiosities. Towards the end of sophomore year, I discovered LAMP and soon became intrigued by how businesses were managed. In particular, I was fascinated by how computers had changed businesses in t...
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.
Before I started trying to find a major I took a test about my personality type. I found out that I am a sensor, thinker, perceiver and I’m in between extravert and introvert. In doing this it allowed be to get a better understanding
There has been a number of debates as to whether college students should be given the opportunity to choose their courses. Like any contentious subject, while others are of the opinion that, courses should be chosen for college students, others believe that, students should be given complete freedom to choose the courses they would love to study. When students join college, they are forced to study for subjects they do not want to. Many students complain that they are not allowed to choose subjects they are interested in; rather, they are forced to take compulsory subjects. In addition, students complain that, they are forced to spend their entire years in college doing things they really do not need. This is very wrong because, college students should have more freedom to choose their own courses for several reasons. To start with, students are always interested in studying different subjects, and they love courses they choose to study. Moreover, if students are allowed to study the courses they choose, it will be easy for them to concentrate and work hard so as to excel in this subjects.
...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.
“Some students go to college knowing exactly what they want to do. But most don’t. At Penn State, 80 percent of freshmen — even those who have declared a major — say they are uncertain about their major, and half will change their minds after they declare, sometimes more than once” (Simon). Many students going to college have no idea what they want to become when they grow up. Many change their major and career path during college which proves to become extremely financially damaging. For me, I am pretty sure I know what I want to become in the future and will not end up stuck thinking what I want to become when heading into college in the future. I want to go into the medical field and the two jobs in that field that seems very appealing are
D'Arcy, J. (2012, 12 1). Choosing a major in college: Do parents get a say? . Washington Post .