Blog Post #6 - Revised Blog Post 3 - What is College Good For?

http://smbohne.blogspot.com/2012/09/blog-post-3-what-is-college-good-for.html

What is College Good For?

When deciding whether or not to go to college, one may ask “what is college good for?”  College is a huge decision in life and I think there are only pros for attending college.  People may only think of a few reasons of why college is good, but I am going to list a many more answers.

College benefits you by receiving an education.  Not many people like going to school every day, but in the long run, you learn so much information.  When going into college, one usually chooses a specific major.  In the article, Don't Miss the College Forest for the Career Trees, Bobby Fong says that 60% of people graduate with a different major than the one they decided when they came into college.  I personally feel that even if you do change your major, you walk away by gaining knowledge in another area of study as well.  Later in life, if you do decide to change your job, you have another option to choose from.  NPR Staff, Mike Rose, one of the authors listed on Professor: Value of College Extends Beyond Paycheck, feels that learning things doesn't just make a living, but it lets us do things with our life.

Another reason why college is good for you is because it makes you grow as a person.  In high school, many teachers let you turn things in late, make up work, and remind you about certain tasks.  Once you reach college, no one is there to “baby” you!  You have to take full responsibility on your own.  I think this is completely fair because once we graduate college, we are in the real world where we have to do things on our own.  There is not going to be that “friendly reminder” or turning in your work late.  No, you get fired from your job if that happens.  People don’t take these things lightly in life because if you graduated from college, you should have grown up.  As stated in the article, Live and Learn, by Louis Menand, society wants to find intelligent people early on so they can put them in the careers they should be in.  They will be able to show all the talents they are capable of and be of great use to that program.

In today’s society, money is a huge factor for everything.  If you don’t have a job, or were lucky enough to inherit a family member’s money, you will probably have a rough time with life.  After reading, Why is College Good, the anonymous author stated that college can help you obtain the career of your choice. People must understand that most jobs in today’s world require receiving an education, also known as going to college.  Some may feel that college is a waste of time, but if you want to work in life, you most likely need an education higher than high school.  So if you think it is just another pointless, four years of school, remember, college does help you in the long run. 

But when applying for a job, one of the main things people are looking for is “experience.”  Many college graduates don’t have any experience with the job they want to fulfill in life.  So what happens?  They lose a job position over someone who may have some experience.  In the article, Employees looking for Experience Over Education, author Bill…. states that education takes a backseat to professional experience.  This means that people who are going to college are coming second to those who have experience over no degree. 

 

So what are you supposed to do?  Work for a college degree or work at having experience?  The answer is doing what you want to do.  The Department of Labor states in the article, Experience or Education: Which One Lands You The Job, that over the past few decades, employees with a college degree earn roughly 77% more than those with only a high school diploma.

People may have a bit of financial difficulty while attending college, but afterwards, we learn the importance of balancing our money.  Living in the real world is something many of us do not know yet.  There are so many things we have to pay for: a house, mortgage, insurance, food, clothes, and so much more.  Patience also is very important.  In the article, College Grad's Guide To Managing Money,  Anna Vander Broek says that if you save only a few dollars a week, you'll soon be miles ahead of friends who save nothing.  One of the most important things is to position yourself so you control your finances not the other way around.  We really learn how precious every penny really is. 

So really think about the job you want to have, the salary you want to be making, or the discipline you have later in life.  College prepares you for all of these.  Experience is important, but college really gives you that extra shove in life.

 

Share or Die Response - Blog Post #5

After looking through the Contents in Share or Die, one title really caught my interest.  It was under the Life section and read, Stranger Dinners.  As soon as I saw this, I went to page 105 right away and started reading.

The introduction starts off saying, “Dear Stranger,” and talks about how Ari should never be in contact with someone she personally doesn't know.  After that, the letter states how Ari may see you (a stranger) at a party, park, bar, etc., but she is too afraid to go talk to you because you seem busy and doesn't want to intrude.  Once finished with the introduction, Arianna Davolos, the author of this article, talks about the real world and how lonely she feels in it.

Arianna just graduated college and was excited to start in the “real world” and be stress-free with no school work; but she was wrong.  Arianna wanted to make art and came to realization that no one has time for that.  She recognized that college had not prepared her for actual reality.  In the real world, people don’t have time to waste.  People are kept busy with their jobs and basically work themselves to death. 

Then she asked herself, “Is this it?  You have a few friends, go to work, and have some fun?”  Arianna wanted to know how people lived their lives and pointed out that the internet has done a huge job sharing this.  Social media networks like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram are ways we communicate about our personal life. 

Many of us may not realize this, but we are sharing information about ourselves to so many strangers on the internet.  Yes, we have friends that we know, but sometimes we just clip accept to get rid of the “friend request” button being highlighted.  The internet creates a barrier between our actual relationships with these people we are “friends with.”  We need to communicate more face-to-face with people because our social skills as a whole are going down the drain.  This is where Stranger Dinners comes in.

Arianna started to invite strangers to her house for a get together.  She wanted to see the gap from personal and impersonal, as well as social media versus in-person interactions.  Arianna wants to learn more about the world and other people in it, what their lives consist of, and creating personal relationships with people.

I honestly think this is a great idea!  It seems a bit scary at first, inviting people who you don’t even know over to your house, but once you get to know these strangers and get into specific details about their lives, you will feel like you have known them forever.  Plus, it is a way that society gets to know other aspects of the real world besides their own.  It creates good social skills between people and that is something that we lack as a whole.  More people should be trying this method.

Stranger Dinners may seem a bit out of the ordinary, but Arianna Davolos does a great job giving you tips on how to make this work.  She is finding a way to be active with her community and the members in it.  She is also learning about the real world besides her own everyday life.  Personally speaking, I think I should maybe even try this because even at college, you may be super busy and find yourself lonely at times.

Blog Post #4 - Is College (Good) Enough?

In today’s society, many people are not sure whether College is for them or not.  But there are more than just that question alone.  Many ask is college enough?  Can I pass by in life without it?  What will I need from college?  Are there skills I need to have acquired before going into the real world?  So many questions are taken into consideration when asking if College is enough or not these days, so why not research further into it?

"80% of 10^th graders plan to attend college" (College in America.)  This fact really caught my attention.  I know when I was in the 10^th grade, I wanted to go to college because I wanted to receive a degree in a specific major.  College helps us greatly in trying to achieve this goal.  By having a degree, we can then choose a career we want to have and create a life out of it.

Work ethic is another important aspect in life and I think College prepares us for this.  “For students who give some thought to a work ethic and to their college experiences, there are many lessons they can take away.  As a college parent, you may be able to help your student equate some of his college experiences to his future work life.  Students who recognize these college experiences as preparation and practice for later work expectations will not only experience more success in college, but will be better prepared later" (Is Your College Sudent Preparing for the World of Work?) I fully believe this because after watching my sister, Liz, attend College, I knew that I needed to put a lot of time and effort into my work if I wanted to be successful.  She started off young working hard.  When she was in high school, she volunteered coaching a grade school girl’s volleyball team.  She knew she wanted to have a job that was involved with children so this was the perfect start.  After that, Liz became a Summer-Camp Counselor.  She began this job when she was a freshman in College and finished once she graduated, 4 years later.  While attending College, she wanted more experience with children so she got a job as a supervisor for the before and after school program.  Just these jobs alone shows how much hard work she puts in.  Liz wants to succeed in life, so she got jobs that would go with her major.  After graduating Illinois State University in four years, she earned a job as a Second Grade Teacher at Nale Hale Elementary School, in Schaumburg, Illinois.  My parents still tell her, "hard work does pay off."

Over the years of attending College, we acquire certain skills.  We may not know it at first, but we do.  Skills can vary from repairing something, defending yourself, improve your sense of style, cook like a pro, or create a website (Top 10 Highly-Desired Skills You Can Teach Yourself.)  We pick a major at the beginning of our college career because we want to make a life out of it.  While in the process of trying to earn this degree, we learn so many things that help us in life.  Not many people may notice, but College is the reason we learn so many small things in life.

Bad habits

On the flip side of attending College, things can turn out differently than expected.  “College students work so hard after school that they feel that they need to get a definite answer and not be wrong.  They overwork things and tend to stress themselves out.  The only value their boss’s opinion and no one else’s" (The Bad Habits You Learn In School.)  Becoming like this after College could be a huge negative.  People at your work won't want to work with you, may see you as "selfish", and you could potentially be fired.

Receiving an education may seem like the most important thing in the world, but what about other qualities too that you may need after school?  Schools today are doing their job by passing students onto the next grade, but are lacking to teach students what it takes to be a leader.  All teachers want students to excel in their class, but they rarely focus on other aspects other than school.  I personally feel after leaving high school I had some sense of leadership, but not much.  I would sit back in class and let the “outgoing” kids talk and be the leaders.  Voicing my own opinion made me nervous.  I was afraid my peers would judge me, I would be wrong, or I would just sound stupid.  My teachers never really gave me that extra boost that I needed.  Although, I do have to say that I had a sense of leadership in classes where I was close with my teachers.  People may find this a bit out of the ordinary, but I would develop a great relationship with some of my teachers.  I would become so close to them that I would actually spend extra time with them in their office, stay after school, or eat lunch with them.  After being with them so much, I would be able to speak out in their class if we were discussing something that not necessarily everyone agreed on.  I wasn’t afraid because they made me feel comfortable with who I was as I person. 

Most people think that going to school is the only way you are going to be successful in life, but I beg to differ.  Nicholas Perez stated he felt, “confident and comfortable outside of the school environment, and skipping school gave me a significant amount of extra time to focus on positive things that were important to me” (Dropping Out Was a Good Idea.)  School may not be for everyone and people have to realize that.  If someone loves something, but may not want to go to school for it, then don’t.  Create your own path.

College may or may not be enough for some people.  If you find something that you love to do, pursue it and don't do anything you don't want to.  If you feel that College may help you more in the long run, take that path.  Your career depends on what you think would be the most efficient way of achieving it.  So don't be a follower, lead yourself in the direction of your dreams.