Thursday, January 11, 2007
Where College Fails Us
“Where College Fails Us” brings up very interesting arguments about the state of our secondary education in this country. The author, Caroline Bird, presents both the positives and negatives of student’s advancement in education beyond high school. The tone she uses for this essay is not strongly anti-university, but rather critical of most students that believe college is the only way to be successful. One of her best points is that most of the time college does not systematically create hard-working, dedicated people. She also shows the financial burden that college can become on graduates and parents. Another interesting point that Bird presented is that many college graduates do not become what they intended. Since there are limited job openings, many college graduates become laborers and secretaries, jobs that usually don’t require degrees. Some of the points that Bird could have expanded on include the great stratification between the haves and the have-nots: those who can afford college and those who cannot. She also could have described how for some students partying and drinking greatly hinders their motivation in learning. Overall, Bird states a very compelling argument that rejects many of society’s beliefs.
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6 comments:
KJS, it seems like you're saying that Bird believes that college is not the only way to be successful for several reasons: it puts a financial burden on families, it does not always create hard working people, and because students often do not obtain the jobs they want. As for the paper's weaknesses, you believe that Bird did not fully analyze various families' abilities to pay and the partying aspects that prevent learning.
Do you think that there are other aspects of college besides drinking and partying that keep students from learning? What if some students really are not motivated whether they party or not? Would analyzing these other aspects help Bird's argument?
KJS: I agree with you comments on how Bird forgets to mention how the social atmosphere at most colleges affects its students. Also - I agree that society wrongfully takes most of the credit for the force of hardworking young people - these qualities, it seems, would have to be present in the first place in order for someone to even get into college. So my question to you is: do you think it is fair that college (in my opinion) seems to be the only way for possible employers to know that a young candidate is 'hard working, smart, time-efficient, and able to work in groups' -- the qualities that most jobs require these days? And if young people who DO have all these qualities do not go to college, does that mean they could still do those jobs just as well (socially, not intellectually) as those who do?
KJS, i find it interesting that you brought up the point regarding how many graduates take jobs that do not require the degree they earned. Do you think it is better to wait to go to school until you are positive that you are going to earn a degree that applies toward your job? or do you think it is better to keep with the "traditional" way of attending college?
em, to answer your question, I would say that even though it is nontraditional, young people should see the opportunities open for them before they start a degree. I think the most effecient way of doing this is to go into college as undeclared and then take as many classes as possible to find the major you enjoy. Although this isnt the path I chose, I believe that it can work for many others.
Hello.
I would just like to say that I am currently in college, in my first semester. I am almost 100% sure that I am going to drop out. Now before you judge me on that statement, please consider my reasoning. I believe Bird presents a very good argument that college is not the only path to success. However, I will take it a step further by saying that college is not the only path to higher learning.
I feel that the system has failed me utterly, throughout high school and I can see that it is no different in college. The one size, fits all approach is laughable when applied to learning. Everyone has a unique way of learning things, and some techniques just simply don't work on some people. Everyone has unique brains.
The tests, homework, and pointless activities do nothing for me, not to mention the stress of deadlines, midterms and finals. I have an extreme passion for knowledge and learning, as it is a path to betterment of yourself and humanity as a whole. However, there must be some other way(s) to learn besides college, because it's just not cutting it for me.
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