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An academic essay on self development
An academic essay on self development
An academic essay on self development
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Is college the best option? Today, many students are attending college and with college becoming more expensive, many question if college is the best option for students. A degree can increase a student’s chance of obtaining a job, on average making more money than the average person without a degree, and expanding a student's mind and knowledge. For other students college might not be the right choice because they don’t have time or the money. It may lead them into financial burden, so college will not be a smart investment in their eyes. College can be a smart choice or the wrong choice, but it depends on the student. A four and a two year college are not for everyone, but it is the best option for many students. Using experts from higher …show more content…
education shows that there are many positive and negatives effects that can impact a student's future by bringing success or financial failure. Four and two year colleges are widely known for helping a student's future, but they fail to search up important information that could impact a student’s future. As discussed in Freeman Hrabowski's essay, “[s]students and families should learn as much as possible about each institution they are considering. [t]hey should also estimate the net costs, looking carefully at expenses and anticipated grants and loans” (260). Some colleges have a better chance than other colleges for helping students find a job after graduation so it is important for students to look up information about the college they want to attend. With the college tuition increasing, college it is also important for students to check how much the college will cost them. Students should then make the decision to see if attending college will lead them into financial burden. Finding the right college will affect your future outcomes. A four and two year colleges are the best option for students because a degree increases the chances in successfully obtaining a job. In the essay “College Prepares People for Life” , Freeman Hrabowski points out that many fast growing jobs need “at least a college degree”(260). Basically, Hrabowski stated that many employers look for employees with knowledge in their field of study and that are prepare to face many challenges. With that being said, the better paying jobs will be given to those with a college degree. This may be a reason why people with degrees have higher an income than those without a degree. Although many people see that this as a reason to go to college, they do not see that not everyone needs to go to college. A four and two year college is the best option for students, but it is not for everyone because some students already contain skills that will help them in their career.
In the essay, “Hidden Intellectualism,” by Gerald Graff points out that colleges do not acknowledge any of these skills to develop them into “academic work” (264). The essence of Graff’s argument is that many do not acknowledge the skills that people have as educational though it can help improve and person's work and mind. With certain skills put into work, it can lead them into obtaining a job and becoming a skilled worker. Although some might not need college because they are highly skilled, there are some who do not need college for other reasons. A four and two year college is the best option for students, but it is not for everyone because it would not be a smart financial choice. College may not be the right choice if the student does not receive a good return of investment. According to Stephanie Owen and Isabel Sawhill, “…not all college degree or college graduates are equal” (209). Stephanie Owen and Isabel Sawhill’s point is that the amount of money someone makes depends on their job. For example, someone with an educational background might make less than someone without a degree. Depending on what field of study a student goes into will reflect how much they will make and if their return of investment is worth going to college. For those who receive a dreadful return of investment may not be able to pay their students’ loan which will lead them into debt. Financially, college will not be a smart choice to invest in for everyone. Most believe a four and two year college is the best option for students because on average students with a degree make more than someone without a degree, but not everyone will agree. Some people will say that not everyone needs a degree to make a lot of money because there have been rich successful people without a degree. Yes, it is true that there are
successful people without a degree, but it is very difficult for someone to be able to accomplish that and those people are one in a million. According to Charles Murray in his essay “Are too Many People Going to College?” the better chance for people to find a job is, “to be among the best at what you do” (247). Successful people without a degree are highly educated, talented in a specific skill, and/or think out of the ordinary. They are the best at what they do and that is why they are at the top. When it comes to the question, if college is the best option, I believe college is the best option but it is not for everyone. People should look into careers that they want to go into and if they need to go to college. If a student wants to go to college then they need to decide which one is the best for them. College can affect you or anyone you know and their decisions can affect your life as well. Your friends or family member might be going through the decision of whether to go to college or not. It also affects our society because many of our doctors, lawyers, and engineers etc. go through the decision whether they should go to college and where to go. Their choices impact us by helping our society from curing patients to inventing in technology that can help us. When a student makes this decision they take a path that can possibility help our future society.
In recent discussions of education, a controversial issue has been whether or not to go to college after high school. On the one hand, some argue that starting your career after high school is the smart thing to do. On the other hand, however, others argue that the smarter decision would be to continue your schooling by going to college to get a degree. In sum, then, the issue is whether or not college is the right decision for you. My own view is that you should go to college because it helps you build character, start a tradition, and gives you experience.
According to “Hidden Intellectualism”, Gerald Graff says that “ Everyone knows some young person who is impressively “street smart” but does poor in school” ( Gerald Graff 244). He explains that to many people believe that one who is so intelligent in life cannot do well in academic work, and he or she needs spend extra time on his or her school works than things in sports. However, Graff used his own anti-intellectual experience to verify his opinion that street smarts are simply as important as school smarts, and he recommends school should take all these street smarts and apply them into good academic environment. Graff also believes we should allow students read literature or any things they first feel interested, for example “George Orwell, which is a writing on the cultural meanings of penny postcards is infinitely more
If someone asked you which was more important, street smarts or book smarts, what would be your answer? Gerald Graff, the author of an essay called Hidden Intellectualism, contemplates on what he thinks because there are pros and cons to being street smart and being book smart.
Development of Rhetorical and Analytical Skills through Sports. In “Hidden Intellectualism” by Gerald Graff, the author speaks about how schools should use students’ interests to develop their rhetorical and analytical skills. He spends a majority of his essay on telling his own experience of being sport loving and relating it to his anti-intellectual youth. He explains that through his love for sports, he developed rhetoric and began to analyze like an intellectual. Once he finishes his own story, he calls the schools to action, advising them to not only allow students to use their interests as writing topics, but instead to teach the students on how to implement those compelling interests and present them in a scholarly way.
If I am to read Dr.Seuss over the dictionary does that make me worthless? In highschool I often could never relate to the stories I was made to read. I would always find my mind wandering about different things or I would find myself not caring about the grades I made. I would often put my head in the book and drift off to sleep, that would result in trouble. Many times, when I got in trouble and had to go to the office I did not care because I was not being bored by the readings that were being forced on me. Although teachers feel differently about what is intellectual, but students should not feel bad for not being able to relate.
In “Hidden Intellectualism,” Gerald Graff pens an impressive argument wrought from personal experience, wisdom and heart. In his essay, Graff argues that street smarts have intellectual potential. A simple gem of wisdom, yet one that remains hidden beneath a sea of academic tradition. However, Graff navigates the reader through this ponderous sea with near perfection.
A philosopher once said ”A child educated only at school is an uneducated child”. As we are living in a world where everyone knows the importance of schools and the meaningful of being educated, then why does he believe that a child is illiterate when he only studies at school? Are schools actually limit on areas of study and overlook the essential of real life experience? In the article “Hidden Intellectualism”, Gerald Graff claims that schools and colleges are might at fault due to their omission of the “street smarts”-knowledge necessary to deal with reality-, and their failure to invest them into academic work. By stating the fundamental of intellectualism and the influence of personal interests, he informs readers that those street smarts,
It is evident that Gerald Graff’s article is bias because he avoids talking about acquiring academic intelligence through academic learning rather than non-academic ways. For instance, Graff shows bias when he generalizes our way of seeing educated life and academics. He said that, “We associate the educated life, the life of the mind, too narrowly and exclusively with subjects and texts that we consider inherently weighty and academic. We assume that it’s possible to wax intellectual about Plato, Shakespeare, the French Revolution, and nuclear fission, but not about cars, dating fashion, sports, TV, or video games.” (Graff 264-5). Graff clearly thinks that everyone associates educated life with academics, when in reality this is not true. He believes that
College has always been a process that introduces students to academic challenges that are not present during high school. So when my professor assigned Gerald Graff's essay, "Hidden Intellectualism", I thought this was his thesis. “Missing the opportunity to tap into such street smarts and channel them into good academic work." (Graff 142) I thought that this was his thesis because it explains the main idea of the essay but I assumed its purpose because of where it’s placed. I am so used to reading an essay in high school where the thesis is located right in the first paragraph. So naturally that is where I look for it. However, with more reading I knew that the following is the thesis, not only because it discusses the main topic, but because it clearly shows what the author was making his argument about. "But [students] would be more prone to take on intellectual identities if we encouraged them to do so at first on subjects that interest them rather than the ones that interest us". (Graff 199) Your thesis is one of the major aspects of a good college paper because it shows exactly what the main claim of the entire paper is going to be about. Three main points to take out of a thesis is, is it your main claim or big idea that directly answers a question about the assignment of the paper. Is it written with the reader in mind with a road map they could follow along easily and lastly when you do go back through revising and reflecting does it makes your thesis clearer.
“Hidden Intellectualism” written by Gerald Graff, is a compelling essay that presents the contradicting sides of “book smarts” and “street smarts” and how these terms tied in to Graff’s life growing up. Graff felt like the school was at fault that the children with more “street smarts” were marked with the reputation of being inadequate in the classroom. Instead of promoting the knowledge of dating, cars, or social cues, the educational system deemed them unnecessary. Gerald Graff thought that “street smarts” could help people with academics. In his essay, Graff confessed that despite his success as an “intellect” now, he was the exact opposite until college. Where he grew up in Chicago, Illinois, intelligence was looked down upon around peers
Leonhardt believes college is worth it because there is a greater benefit for a college graduate will have. “Americans with four-year college degrees made 98 percent more an hour on average in 2013 than people without a degree.” Leonhardt makes a good point that college is worth it because college graduates are financially stable than those without a degree. College graduates make a whole lot more of money than a high school graduate.
In “College Is a Waste of Time and Money,” Caroline Bird, a college lecturer makes very good and valid points that college is wasting time and money. She describes how society has pushed students into getting higher education right out of high school. Leaving us with the question, are students getting a higher degree of education to better their future or to keep them busy and paying an institution.
Street smarts are intellectual resources that are ignored by schools. It is the most informal version of intellect, generally relating to hobbies that seem anti-intellectual. Gerald Graff’s journal article Hidden Intellectualism shows that everyone is an intellectual whether they are aware of it or not. Using mainly ethos, he describes how sports can be a form of intellectualism because of the use of logic. He says it beautifully here, “I see now that sports provided me with something comparable to the saturation of life by argument… that my preference for sports over schoolwork was not anti-intellectualism so much as intellectualism by other means.”
Co-author of “They Say/I Say” handbook, Gerald Graff, analyzes in his essay “Hidden Intellectualism” that “street smarts” can be used for more efficient learning and can be a valuable tool to train students to “get hooked on reading and writing” (Graff 204). Graff’s purpose is to portray to his audience that knowing more about cars, TV, fashion, and etc. than “academic work” is not the detriment to the learning process that colleges and schools can see it to be (198). This knowledge can be an important teaching assistant and can facilitate the grasping of new concepts and help to prepare students to expand their interests and write with better quality in the future. Graff clarifies his reasoning by indicating, “Give me the student anytime who writes a sharply argued, sociologically acute analysis of an issue in Source over the student who writes a life-less explication of Hamlet or Socrates’ Apology” (205). Graff adopts a jovial tone to lure in his readers and describe how this overlooked intelligence can spark a passion in students to become interested in formal and academic topics. He uses ethos, pathos, and logos to establish his credibility, appeal emotionally to his readers, and appeal to logic by makes claims, providing evidence, and backing his statements up with reasoning.
One question that comes to mind when graduating high school is, “should I attend college?” For many graduates this question have a very obvious answer. A high school graduate may state that, “college is the best option if one is trying to get a higher level of education, and will help one compete for a higher paying job.” However, in my opinion most graduates do not consider the fact that going to college is a very big decision to make and that the schoolwork will not be easy. Going to college is not the best choice for every high school graduate because many students cannot handle college, colleges’ lower standards, and not all jobs require a college degree.