As a young girl in school, I always believed that I would one day would be successful and had the hope that a college education would assist me in being successful. I exceled in school even with circumstances such as hurricane Katrina and September 11 and had a thirst for knowledge. At the same time, the teachers that influenced me in life convinced me to attend college for the betterment of knowledge and a potential for a job or a career. However, those same teachers were teaching me textbook methods and no real on hand training that is essential in an education especially a college education. In "Vocation or Exploration? Pondering the Purpose of College”, Alina Tugend ponders the idea of college being either Vocation—job training— or Exploration learning. She starts off by referring to her oldest son is about to graduate high school, but quickly goes straight to the point of her essay with “What exactly is a university education for?” She provides answers such as college is a way to automatically receive a job if one majors in science, technology or a major that can be applied to a changing world that we live …show more content…
in. Another possibility is that a college education is to enable crucial thinking in students forcing them to “think outside of the box” and to always ponder about the ideas and issues that college students are faced with and will face on a day to day basis in his or her chosen field and life. Is a college education either implied critical thinking or receiving a job immediately afterwards? It is both. For example, people need a job and money to sustain what we as society declare as life: house, food, and/or extracellular activates that are a part of a given society. At the same time, life is not much different as the cavemen days, people still have to work to make it even if it has been advanced and more technical then just a normal day of laboring and hunting. A college education would be pointless if one could not found a job or career to cover the loans he or she may have taken out. It is rare to find a college student without any loan that assisted the living and attending costs of going to a college or university. Consequently, money is usually the motive in receiving an education with the promise of living above the poverty line. Essentially A student is being primed to be able to apply for openings and be on his or her way down the career of his or her choice within a year of graduating college. Moverover, a college education cannot produce a career or job without the ability to critical think about a situation and act accordingly.
For instance, if a graduate was out in his or her field of –let’s say—biology and he or she are finding results are abnormal from what the originally hypothesis may have been. If one is not able to interpret and find out the reason of the abnormality, he or she would have spent unnecessary time even producing an experiment, for he or she did not use the critical thinking skills that an education can provide. Any major that is offered by a college should include critical thinking skills for the world is always changing and new discoveries are filled when it comes to the universe. Therefore, asking questions and being able to adjust is imperative to a student’s success in school and in the job market for his or her
major. All in all, a college education should be a combination of thinking skills and the ability to be able to go into one’s profession with compensation within a year of graduating a university or college. If a college education does not result in the mention combination, it is not a typical education. For a student to know if it is a proper education, a college –as pointed out in the essay—should take on the idea of Senator Ron Wyden who “introduced the Student Right to Know Before You Go Act, which would require, among other things, that students have access to data on university graduates’ average annual earnings.” This idea would eliminate both the colleges that should not be functioning and the problem of college students not being able to pay student loans or finding a suffient job after college. Professor Delbanco who is mention in … produces an elegant and accurate way of how a college education should be: “The university should be a place for reflection for the young to explore areas of the human experience, to be fully aware of history and the arts… We don’t want to have a population that has technical competence but is not able to think critically about the issues that face us as a society.”
In the article “America’s Most Overrated Product: The Bachelor’s Degree” by Marty Nemko, the author argues several different views on why higher education may be very overestimated. For starters, the author shares his opinion more than anything else due to him being a career counselor. The purpose of this essay is to explain to the readers that most people start off with the idea of living the American Dream. Which is practically going to college to have a better life and career. But over the time the idea of working very hard for a Bachelor’s degree has become very dimmed. Furthermore, for some people, when they think of the American Dream they think of hope for bettering themselves and also helping their families. Unlike the author, Nemko feels that even the thought of trying to pursue to get a bachelor’s degree is overrated. The audience of this passage would most likely be teenagers going into college and parents. Nemko states that “Colleges are quick to argue that a college education is more
In recent discussions of "Is College Worth It?" by John Green, a controversial issue has been weather-attending college worth it or not? On the one hand, some argue that colleges are not worth attending because it is too expensive and they do not need a degree to get a good job. From this perspective, many people do not apply to a college. On the other hand, however, others insist that college is worth attending because it is expanding the knowledge and give more opportunity to find jobs. In the words of John Green one of this view 's proponents, " Education gave me perspective and context." According to this view, college is worth to apply for because it enlarges the information that people have and expands their knowledge. In sum, then, the
Louis Menand, a professor of English and American literature at Harvard University presented three different theories for higher education in an article for The New Yorker named, Live and Learn: Why We Have College. Menand (2011) claims that the reasons for college are meritocratic, democratic, and vocational. These theories are great models for the purpose of higher education in our culture, at different points in our history. As a nation, there are definite intentions behind the way that instruction is conducted in our colleges and universities. The techniques adopted by institutions of higher education are no mistake and they are designed to serve a purpose. These methods evolve with time and shape the way that generations think and reason. In our generation, the purpose of higher education in our culture is to sustain the nation atop of the worldwide economy.
College is the place where people go to retain the necessary training for a job that requires specific skills, which results in earning a higher pay check. In today’s world, employers are scouting out for individuals with the proper dexterities to fill the shoes for that specific job. Blanche D. Blank, the author of “A Question of Degree," argues that possessing a degree of higher education isn’t the only way to have a very successful life. This statement is highly argumentative, due to the fact that college graduates still out-earn people without degrees. Obtaining a college degree is one of the best things someone can do for themselves, when it comes to looking for a stable job. There is also so much more to college than just receiving a
Going to college gives students the chance to step out of their comfort zone, try new things, and discover who they are while pursuing a degree that may, or may not, interest them. In today’s world if a student drops out of college society assumes they are unintelligent, while in reality they could have come to the realization that being amazing at a trade job is better than being mediocre at a desk job. There has to be a way for students to want to finish college and find what they are learning interesting. If something doesn’t change, the system of postsecondary education will become a thing of the
Imagine telling that to a student who just finished four years of hard, grueling, expensive work; or, even worse, a parent who paid for their child to finish that same grueling work. But, in some ways, that statement can’t be any further from the truth. College can prepare a student for life in so many more ways than for a career. However, in the way that college is supposed to prepare soon-to-be-productive students, that statement could be right on. As a student myself, I’ve found college to be a little bit of both. I often find myself asking, "How will this help me later in life?" But, then again, college gives me more control over my life and where I want it to go. In trying to figure out what exactly made college like this, and whether the way I felt was felt by others as well, I interviewed an Anthropology teacher at Las Positas College, Mr. Toby Coles, and I examined an essay by Caroline Bird called College is a Waste of Time and Money. The two sources offered interesting views from both side of the spectrum.
Nguyen, Dung. The True Purpose of College and Higher Education. 2000. Delta Winds. Web. 15 April 2014
In previous times it has been thought, by some, that with a college degree a person could have any job and would be very successful. In Colonial America, colleges were mainly founded by the wealthy. The goal of college at this time was to “produce Christian gentlemen who would inherit their family business” (Thelin). After a “college boom” so many state colleges were built and some became co-ed, adding “special” courses for women. The goal of college attendance still was not completion of a bachelor’s degree. College during this time was mainly primary learning so students could eventually move onto college-level higher learning. “Students sometimes took two years of courses in order to earn an LI (license of instruction) certificate to teach public school” (Geiger). Recently there has been debate over whether or not a college degree is really worth it anymore. Some people think getting an education isn’t worth the money. It can be argued that with a college degree you can get a better job. Going to college, seems to be the obvious next step for many high schoolers. Getting a college degree and education is worth it. Students will come to find that the benefits of having a degree outweigh the negatives. College helps prepare students for the future and exposes them to life experiences.
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
In John Cassidy’s article, he states, “About seventy percent of all high school graduates now go on to college, and half of all Americans between the ages of twenty-five and thirty-four have a college degree” (Cassidy 2). With that reality, the business world becomes much more competitive for jobs, and it comes down to whether a person has a degree or not. College should be thought of as a prerequisite for the growing jobs of the economy today. Next, college is worth it because it can provide a better life and make more money. According to economists studying the effects college has on a career path, “Once you enter the labor market, the theory says, you will be rewarded with a better job, brighter career prospects, and higher wages” (Cassidy 2). More options in life means more opportunity, and while some may be able to obtain a job more quickly than others, college will almost guarantee a job opportunity. Finally, college unlocks the true potential of everyone, including displaying a person’s characteristics or talents. According to the end of John Cassidy’s article, “Providing access to college for more kids from deprived backgrounds helps nurture talents that might otherwise go to waste” (Cassidy 5). Although it could be just for deprived kids, the same applies for all students. College helps students find themselves, and being on their own will make them broaden their horizons. Overall, a college degree has a lot of importance
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
Linda Lee, an author and editor, would claim that college is only helpful for the students who want to pursue a job in advanced degrees such as teaching, medicine, architecture, and the like. Anyone who goes to school for any other reason would be an insult to the professors who put all their time and energy into their lectures. To put it in her words exactly, “college education is especially being wasted on today’s youth.” In some ways, she is correct. There are many students who only go to secondary school for the “college experience”, i.e. college parties,
Carter, PhD, explains, “Problem solving and critical thinking lie at the heart of every aspect of life…The identification and analysis of new approaches is truly the meat and potatoes of critical thinking. This requires the full range of skills that should be provided to students within the world of higher education” (¶ 5). When a person is in high school, they are taught many ways to be successful in life. Whether it is being able to strike a deal with a successful businessman or opening one’s mind to a whole different realm of job opportunities, transferring those skills acquired in high school to your college education is a step in the right direction. Collaborating with college students and professors, learning additional ways to expand your potential, and discovering more paths to new information are all examples of the potential benefits of higher learning. Whatever a student’s major is, college gives them the tools and analytical skills that could help them land their dream
Firstly, the characteristic of teachers and students in school and at university has great differences. The school teachers dismantle to translate the textbooks word-by-word from limited information-based, and whether the students understand the lessons or not, they can passively copy down the information and refers to their notes later at home and memorizes them. However, the university students are no longer allowed to sit quietly and negatively throughout the class. They are being demanded to discuss academic matters or cooperate with other classmate to perform projects. They are require to find sources, gathering information and put them into order. As Marshall and Rowland (1993, 34) pointed out, ¡¥the ability to think critically is a generic skill that are expected to acquire in the undergraduate education and transfer to daily life, future or current work.¡¦ Therefore, the tutors at university who offer not only textbook instructions but also helps students to think critically and independently by encouragement. Besides, students can choose and adjust their own learning style independently from freely choices of materials provided at university.
The idea of education has been a big part of each and every culture on earth. However, as we all know, there are many questions on what it means to be educated in the form of higher education: questions we, as students, must face sooner or later. Here I am, my junior year in college. In a couple of years, I will be either prolonging my education or out in the real world trying to make a living. I must ask myself these questions: What is the purpose of my higher education? What exactly am I learning? Is the education I am receiving here at the University of Arkansas going to be good enough for a future employer? If I am educated does that mean I am trained to do only one thing? Am I one-dimensional?