Early on in life and as we approach the end of our high school years, we commonly live under the major misconception that we need to college because it is the only way we can secure a stable career and a successful future. However, this is not always the case, as there are many other paths for young people to take that aren’t necessarily the college path. After doing extensive research of the topic, the question of “should we go to college?”, has mostly been answered with a resounding yes, but this in no way means its the correct answer. By telling all young people while on the path to starting their lives that they “need to go” to college, a great disservice is being done by not factoring in the major they may be considering, personal finances and whether or not their looking to attend a prestigious school while also factoring more important values like happiness and how much they enjoy studying a major. As time goes on, and more and more students enroll themselves in colleges and universities, struggling to pay tuition and limit themselves if they go in undecided. Society often fails to open the door and let young students explore other paths they can take besides college, such as industry and other technical educations. We must break society concept that everyone must go to college to have a successful future when there are so many other paths that students can take to also prosper if not greater than that of if they attended school based on the skill sets they provide and where they show they can benefit themselves and the world around them the best.
The question stated by many of “Should we go to college?” Is never often answered or solved. However, there are various sources that are able to provide information that supports the question of “is college worth it?”. In the article “Should Everyone Go to College? Scott Carlton discusses how a writing teacher at a community college in Maryland where many students weren’t able to meet the benchmark in the given curriculum. After trying countless different ways to get some of the students to do things like formulating sentences and lessons of plagiarism, she began to give up, as her efforts began to prove no improvement of the students’ work. Although she ended up passing these students that were unable to succeed in the coarse she began to realize, maybe not all people are made for college. It is seen very often in society that young people are pushed into the thinking that they need to go to college and they were made for college. In Carlsons article, Anthony Carnevale, the director of the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce says, “We have a system now that has one pathway,'(Should Everyone go to College).
What is meant in this is that we have become immune to believe the path to college is the only path for young people right out of college and we are limiting their possibilities to only college, when there are other vast career options we are closing the door to the possibility of pursuing this. Carlton expands on this growing problem, stating how educators today tend to turn a cold shoulder and devalue the importance and option of a technical career and other blue collar job paths for some people to take if they so choose. Millions of jobs and employers across the country and the globe very much appreciate the skill sets that are taught and provided by a technical education. One of the most crucial and important qualities to have before stepping into a job interview it to be personable and be able to think for yourself, where as many corporate jobs fall short of that quality in there employees while being confined to small cubicles. Many very successful companies and industries are in desperate need of people with strong social skills and creative and innovative minds that can solve problems when others are unable to. In this case a shiny new bachelor’s degree fresh out of college isn’t always the key to success but then we must ask a very crucial question, is it really worth it to attend school? Between the costs and the potential that it’s simply not for you, the decision to take the college path can be a very long and winding one.
This is helped made light of in Michelle Adams article, “Is college worth it?”. The article assesses the growing concerns that are brought along in the stress of deciding where we should go to college or not. Adams addresses a study that had been taken in which it is said that “a majority of Americans (57%) say that the higher education system in the United States fails to provide students with good value for the money”(Is College Worth It?). Adams also mentions that on average, someone who attends school and graduate with just a bachelor’s degree, only tend to make a little less that 20,000 dollars more a year than someone with just a high school degree. While other majors that are more science and math intensive such as, engineering fields and chemistry majors, tend to be making very significant salary differences close to 50,000 dollars more a year than the average high school degree holder. lthough this salary gap is fairly significant, there is still concern. There is concern in that college is not becoming a great investment to everyone who looks to attend and in some cases, students are failing to benefit from college at all. Now there is the growing question of how do we make college beneficial for all. A few sources have tried to answer this question by asking what the colleges can do to bring change first.
Scholars and writers have begun to start finding answers to this question, most believing many colleges need to start offering benefits and incentives to the students by providing more real life applications like apprenticeships and a more technical education. If colleges and other universities began to offer incentives such as hands on technical education, the door is opened to more potential students. With this, those who don’t do well in a conventional classroom setting, would now be Able to receive an education with the aid of an alternative, hands on learning format. These technical as well as career education can in most cases be far more comprehensible to certain students who weren’t able to learn and excel in the traditional classroom and can broaden their horizons to jobs that might be more suitable to their abilities and interests. This will also lead students that prefer this method of an education to be able to interview for higher paying jobs with a college degree, and are able to do so at a lower cost than the average college tuition. Not only can certain students benefit from the technical education options, but so can virtually any other college student. A technical education can be the gateway to all other careers and jobs whether they be in a factory or a corporate office. This education is able to not only teach and improve hands on skills but can also better help students understand real world applications and better their readiness for the world ahead of them, sometimes better than a typical classroom setting is able to. A technical education can most times also be interactive in both indoor and outdoor environments, for those students with high skill sets in these environments
For many, the destination of college or a degree can be hard to see through the various twists and turns on a sometimes very foggy road, this was exactly the case for Ron Shriver. Author Libby Sander, in the article “I Never thought I’d get to college” tells the story of how Shriver used to pass by the timeless and knowledge filled rick buildings of the college that is now McDaniel College growing up in Westminster and wonder what college would be like. Nobody in Shriver’s family had done so before and he was bound to take a similar path. The oldest of four sons, Shriver left home at the young age of 17. After growing tired of with his father, and went to work nights at a local grocery store to support himself while he finished high school. During his senior year, he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps under a delayed-entry program. Shriver reported for training in August 2001. He then earned a top-secret security clearance and elite postings as a military police officer, first with the squadron that accompanies the president on his travels, then handling personal security for the commander of the U.S. Pacific Command. In addition he soon married and all once, The road to a stable future and a strong career Shriver had thought impossible had finally opened up. He could get an education. He could noe explore careers beyond the military and law enforcement. And he could teach his children about determination. And by May 19, 2002, Mr. Shriver had graduated from McDaniel. His journey, of course, is just one among those of half a million veterans who’ve enrolled in college under the GI bill introduced following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. But his hopes are emblematic of the promise the federal program has inspired. This is an extraordinary case of someone who didn’t follow the college path, but it in no way hindered or put a limit on the possibilities of the many different careers he could pursue and experiences and journeys to embark on. This concept of not everyone being built for schooling is highlighted in the article by the Indianapolis Business Journal, “Not Everyone is made for college”. The article sheds light on those who don’t believe pursuing the college path is right for them, and that’s not the wrong or right decision because the decision is all up to the individual. For the individuals who chose not to go through a four year college program, whether they don’t enjoy it or are unable to for person reasons, might be suited best in many other places. For these students this work elsewhere might prove to be far more satisfying than that of college, but that’s not all. Not only do these students benefit themselves and their bank accounts by not carry the burden or loans and tuition, but they also better world economy as a whole, by providing their strong, needed skill sets to other employers and industries. Colleges can also benefit greatly by making sure to get an idea of where each student personally prospers, that way colleges can almost filter out which students can perform well in school and which students might be better suited elsewhere.
Overall, College can be very beneficial to all walks of life and anyone willing to learn to secure a bright future, but broader horizons can be created if colleges began to offer hands on incentives and education to not only be able to make college beneficial to all, but let students skill sets become more vast than they can if they are just learning in a dull classroom setting. After reviewing and analyzing various experiences of those who didn’t attend college, university or any type of schooling for that matter, there are paths beyond that of college. In many cases, some people just aren’t made for college, whether it be they don’t perform well in a classroom, or they simply are engaged with what colleges “classroom setting” has to Offer. Although attending college can provide you with you with the right tools to go on your own and find an amazing career, it doesn’t mean it is your fate. You’re destiny is determined by what you love to do, what your interested in and how you learn best. College can offer an amazing advantage over that of just a high school degree, but as time goes on, we must realize that it is ridiculous to believe everyone on earth has to attend college, because a lot of people can find their way and do outstanding things with their lives and hold some of the most important positions and fulfill the most amazing of careers.
