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Continuing our dialogue ....

Anne Dalke's picture
Submitted by Anne Dalke on Tue, 10/25/2011 - 4:16pm
What a great start we had, last week, to our "dia/blog" among Parkway West High School and Bryn Mawr College students. Thanks to all who came, listened, and spoke!

So: let's keep @ it. Feel free to continue sharing any education-related thoughts and questions here.
 
And/or respond to (and push back on?) this posting from last week, by "Marvin Gaye":

To be able to have some type of success in life you must be certified….
Why must you pay to get a role in Society?

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lissiem's picture

Rosa, I think that whether

Submitted by lissiem on Sun, 10/30/2011 - 5:05pm.

Rosa,

I think that whether college is a waste of time is something that everyone worries about (and even though I'm in college currently I think about it a lot too!).  Personally, I've found that having a degree IS what's going to allow me to do what I love.  Maybe I'll make more money because of it, but in the long run a degree is going to allow me to discover more about my passions and give me the resources to do something with it. 

However, money definitely does shape our educational experiences.  A lot of people can't always afford to chance thier dreams.  And although it seems to me that following our passions is an inherent right, it doesn't always work that way.  Even so, having a degree really can't hurt, it can only give more opportunity than otherwise. 

melal's picture

Rosa, I feel the same way as

Submitted by melal on Sat, 10/29/2011 - 4:07pm.

Rosa,

I feel the same way as you do. Sometimes we just have to be realistic and pragmatic. Though different people make contribution in their own ways to the society, only a small number of them are recognized by the society. Those who got valued by the society can get better medical care, education chances, and beautiful living environment. These privileges will give them a sense of secure and superiority, which I think is important for most people. So sometimes materialism is not a bad thing, in some ways it is the foundation of a happy and stable life. Based on this fact, I do think that a college degree makes people get recognized by the society easier. And also, I think in college can we not only learn knowledge, but also gain more recourses by meeting different people and learn the society better. 

Rae Hamilton's picture

Much Ado About Nothing

Submitted by Rae Hamilton on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 10:50am.

Is a Diploma just an expensive piece of paper? Earlier this week, a friend of my roommate came to visit. He made a joke about how him, and one of his colleagues, make the same amount of money even though his friend actually went to college, and my roommates friend did not. Although he said it jokingly, I was highly disturbed by that fact. As a college student, its very discouraging to hear that it might actually a waste of time. College is suppose to be an investment, yet I am not seeing the pay off its suppose to give. I was almost scared reading the NY Times article because I felt that it would discourage me even furthur.

I also wonder how as a high school kid I would react to this. As a college student I cant but agree with the article but as a high school student, I would probably disagree. What does high school do to make college so alluring? And what about being a college student makes college not attractive? In high school all I could think about is college, now that I'm there I cant help but to reminisce on high school days.

Sarah Goode 's picture

I disagree with this comment

Submitted by Sarah Goode (guest) on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 12:02pm.

I disagree with this comment because not everyone has the chance to go to college, those who do have a better percentage of becoming successful. No, a Diploma is not just an expensive piece of paper, its a paper that shows your success.

Edward Alexander Bouchet's picture

I don't really know how to

Submitted by Edward Alexander Bouchet (guest) on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 12:01pm.

I don't really know how to answer this but this is an interesting statement . I have second doubts about college because so many people are saying they are making less than people who don't have degrees . Another reason why i have doubts about going to college is that in this world there are numerous people that have high degrees but still don't have jobs . The only thing about that is i absolutely have to go to college because i wanna be a football player and my back up plan is to be an F.B.I Special Agent . Even if you do your years of college whether your getting your bachelor's or master's degree in criminal justice i'm still not guranteed a job . I feel like that's a problem all over the world we all feel like if we achieve our degrees and have a high level of education than we believe we are guranteed a high paying job . The Quote " Time is Money " is unbelievable to me because there are people in the world that have been in college for many of years and are making less than people who haven't even been in college .

LJ's picture

This is a really difficult

Submitted by LJ on Tue, 11/01/2011 - 10:34pm.

This is a really difficult question because it's true the majority of individuals go to college because they want to get good jobs and live out the "American dream" however, with the economy the way it is most college graduates do not get jobs right away. However, I still think college is important because it allows you to evaluate what exactly you want to do with your life. Right now I'm not sure what I want to do when I grow up, but the classes I'm taking are helping me decide what exactly I'm interested in so that later on I'm not stuck in a field I hate. In addition, a degree gives you more options for what you can do even if the job you decide to apply for has nothing to do with the field you studied in college. I choose college because unlike the Bill Gate's of this world I have neither found my passion nor mastered a certain area of study.

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