Many students go to college expecting to just attend their classes and absorb the information thrown at them only to forget it all after the final. Although some of the content taught may not be of any importance later in life, the lessons outside of the classroom is. From learning how to live with other people to debating on whether to write that essay today or tomorrow, college is a constant learning experience. In Freeman Hrabowski’s article College Prepares People for Life, he discusses how many students are unprepared for life post diploma because universities and colleges don’t provide enough counseling to educate to students on how to function after. I disagree with his statement and believe that he is undermining the real lessons students …show more content…
Most parents raise their children to be ideal citizens and want the best for them. While raising their children, they teach them their core beliefs and political views. As the children grow up “their” beliefs aren’t questioned by their peers until they reach college age when they aren’t under their parent’s shadows. They learn how to speak their mind and many begin to challenge and question the beliefs their parents taught them. Growing up in the Forest Hills district in Grand Rapids, many political ideals and moral values were taught to me that I no longer agree with. After going to college, I learned about many different views and my ideals changed. I no longer think the same as my parents politically speaking and I can have educated conversations with them about my new views instead of agreeing with everything they say. This is especially important when it comes to elections. A student may enter college as a believer in pro-life but through experience, knowledge, and time away from their parents and around others, their option may …show more content…
At some point, there will be no more clean clothes and laundry must be done. Discovering that putting a red shirt in with white shirts creates pink shirts is all part of the learning experience. When college is over, most graduates move into apartments and must do chores to keep the space neat and tidy. Learning these skills in college will save some embarrassment and time later. The first month of college was a month of firsts for me. From learning what ramen was and that you can pretty much cook anything in a microwave to how to reach out to people when I needed help, CMU has taught me more outside the classroom than inside. At home my mom did most of my laundry and we had a cleaning lady. I had some idea of what I was supposed to do when I came to cleaning a bathroom but when it was my turn to clean the bathroom for the first time I had to google “how to clean a shower”. Many classrooms force students to work together on group projects. Most think that the assignment is what the main lesson is however. Most times it’s the life skill of communication and team work. People despise group projects because most of the time, they must deal with slackers and carry the weight of the team. Last semester I had to complete a business pitch with a group that refused to meet and collaborate. I was very stressed and had to complete a majority of the work on my
College can’t teach us everything’s. For example college can’t give us the job experience, only give us the education of the knowledge, and I believe their all lot thing need to be learn in the society. Many people who get a college degree but can’t find a job, which mean they waste there youth and their parent’s money to support their child go to college, and even can’t find a job after a college
Caroline Bird writes the statement in her 1975 article “The Case Against College (Bird 15-18)” that not every high school graduate is ready to attend college. It is 2010 and this article is still valid today. Some of the college students I have been around were not mature enough for obedience school let alone college. A few of the points she makes in the article are: College has never worked its magic for everyone. Does it make you a better person? Are colleges responsible for your children? Are my children living in a country club? I will use some of my own experiences as an example of college life, as well as examples from my daughter’s college experience, along with my nephews as well. All to find the answer to the big question: Are you ready for a college education?
American’s education system has been entering crisis mode for a long time. Throughout the past few years, the overwhelming question “Is college needed or worth it?” While it is an opinion, there are facts that back up each answer. Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” mentions that the enlightened must help the unenlightened and further their knowledge. The problem with America today is that high school students are given the option of college and that makes for less enlightened people. While it is possible to learn in the work force or Army, college is a better option. Mary Daly wrote the article “Is It Still Worth Going to College?” which talks about the statistical value of attending. Michelle Adam wrote the article “Is College Worth It?” which mentions the struggle young people are going through to even get into college. Caroline Bird wrote the chapter “Where College Fails Us” in her book The Case Against College where she
First in the Family: A First Generation College Student. Across universities throughout the United States, the presence of first-generation college students is on the rise (Stephens 1). Students whose parents do not have a degree in higher education, are being given the opportunity to shape their future for the better as they embark on a journey to receiving a four year degree unlike their parents who were not given such an opportunity. With the number of first-generation college students on the rise from the past, I became interested in seeing how the views, relationships, and ideas of these students were unique, and how they differed from the average student attending a university; an average student coming from at least a middle class background who has at least one parent with a degree in higher education.
College can be a stressful time for students. They go to college to work on creating a better future for themselves. But sometimes everything gets so overwhelming, that they can’t do it anymore. In the article “What is College For?” I found the author Gary Gutting’s thesis to be “Nonetheless, there is incessant talk about the ‘failure’ of education” (412). Gutting proves his thesis to be true throughout the article. He makes different points as to why he thinks this epidemic of failure is happening in college. Access, dropouts, students becoming disengaged in learning, and focused mainly on studying for their jobs and careers. All of these things acting as the building blocks to one another in the epidemic of failure that is happening among
Throughout the length of schooling, students go through various changes. In their first year of school, children are required to make the transition from being at home for the entire day to being in school for a number of hours a day. These transition periods happen many times through the schooling years, but the most drastic changes occur during the transition from high school to college, where students weather numerous lifestyle changes. While each individual student goes on their own journey, certain themes remain common between different students. Studies are done to look at these themes identifying the numerous differences and similarities.
There is a tremendous amount of things in life that every student at Golden West College should know how to do. High schools do not offer classes that teach their students how to do certain things in life after high school, and instead teach them things that become useless. Therefore, once these students move on to college they think that they know everything that they need to know. However, that is not exactly true for a majority of them. In the article, “How to Make It in College, Now That You’re Here” Brian O’Keeney discusses many different techniques to help freshmen, and any other students in college that need the assistance. O’Keeney’s article is separated into three main sections to help the reader focus on specific things: good grades, organization, and mental health. Personally, I believe that organization and mental health is what students need to be focusing on the most. Once entering college there are certain things that some students do not know, and it greatly affects their mental health. For example, my best friend and I just graduated high school this year, and once we entered college, we felt lost because of the things we did not know how to do. We did not know how to dot some of the most important things: pay our bills, make sure we received our financial aid, how to do our taxes, etc… All Golden West College students should be required to take two semesters of learning how to do some of the most important everyday things, such as: how to balance a checkbook, how to do taxes, what a mortgage is, and many more things.
Another point that society makes is that college will turn its students into better people. But how does college actually turn someone into a better person? College can place students in situations that call for responsibility and in situations where they may demonstrate qualities of leadership. However college does nothing more then give the students the opportunity to demonstrate the qualities that they already possess. As Bird effectively quotes from respected psychologists Bruner and Piaget, "Specific learning skills have been acquired very early in life, perhaps even before formal schooling begins" (306). Piaget and Bruner believe that the skills of leadership and responsibility have been learned prior college. College simply provides an environment to display the basic skills.
Since I grew up in a household with two parents who are college graduates, and even two grandparents who had graduated from college, the idea of attending college was never seen as a unique opportunity, but rather as a necessary part of my future. I’m not going to complain about growing up with parents who valued the pursuit of knowledge, but it certainly never exposed me to the mindset that maybe college is not the best option for everyone after high school. Today, there is a huge debate over if the price of college is really worth it in the end, with the high cost of tuition and the number of people who just aren’t prepared for the demands that college has to offer. And on the other side, some say that college is a necessity not just in one’s
It seems as though the majority of college students these days aren’t looking to further their education because it’s what they really want, they do it to please their parents, to be accepted by society, or because there’s nothing else for them to do (Bird, 372). These expectations have led to students being unhappy and stressed, and have pushed them into a school or a job that they don’t particularly care for.
First of all, many high school graduates cannot handle college. Isabel V. Sawhill and Stephanie Owen describe college as a place, “one can obtain a traditional four-year bachelor’s degree”. The work load outside of the classroom could be compared to working a full time job. For example, if a student is enrolled in four college courses and is in class a minimum of four hours the student should spend at least four to six hours of studying. This may be extremely agitating and stressful to a student that is not good at studying. The new college student may realize that the schoolwork is too much for him to handle and instead drop out. In Pharinet’s blog post, Is College for Everyone? He states that “…it is estimated that in the U.S., approximately 50% of students who begin college never graduate. There exist students who are not yet ready for the academic and financial challenges of college. There exist students who do not have the desire for college or learning.” This statement is important because if 50% of students that begin college never gradua...
to about 83 percent of high school graduates enroll in some form of postsecondary education, but only about 52 percent of students complete their degrees. Further, a very small proportion of students complete a degree in four years—“among students starting at ‘four-year’ institutions, only 34 percent finish a B.A. in four years, 64 percent within six years, and 69 percent within eight and a half years.” Colleges always want students to graduate and support their alma mater. However this begins with deciding what student are mentally readiness and determination for the task that lies ahead, college. In today’s society we struggle trying to find a proper definition for college readiness. This is the main reason statistics and graduation rates suffer in the way that they do. Just because a high school student reaches the age of 18, obtains a high school diploma, and has functional literacy, does that really make students college ready?
College was once seen as the only way to better your life, and immensely increase your income. But now that is all the past. Caroline Bird states in her narrative “College Is a Waste of Time and Money” that “A great majority of our nine million college students are not in school because they want to be or because they want to learn” (Pg. 373). Sadly the author has a good point, and goes into detail what makes college, so obsolete in our day and time. In particular Caroline Bird mentions that students nowadays see college as something sad and depressing. She then goes on saying that most kids go to college to please their parents, or a way to get away from intolerable home situations. Today I will be talking about why I think is a waste of time and money, and will be elaborating on questions like, is college even worth it, and is it becoming obsolete.
College is not the end of the journey. Students need to be reminded constantly that their learning will continue on into their careers and life. All the learning activities and assignments are simply a foundation for the skill of the lifelong learner. The instructor simply points them out and directs the student.
The article titled 'Teaching Responsibility'; deals with the issue of student preparedness after high school. The article brings up the recent case of Jonathan Govias who is suing his private high school stating that the school did not prepare him for university. The article goes on to give two examples, one in Virginia and one in Ontario of how these types of problems are being dealt with. The editor agrees s that the school system should be held more responsible for its graduates, but makes it clear that lawyers only complicate matters. I believe that Jonathan Govias' case should be heard in a court of law due to the fact that schools have a certain responsibility and if it is not met then something needs to be done about it. I am in total disagreement with the Ontario's school plan to get rid of this problem and am a total fan of the Virginia pilot project, because unlike the Ontario plan they are actually looking to help the students and not their own pockets.