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Stephanie Campbell ENG 122 8-4 Summative Assessment Part Two: Critical Analysis Essay In the article, “Some Lessons from the Assembly Line,” Andrew Braaksma (2005) discusses the importance of pursuing a college education. Braaksma paints a picture of his life lessons and experiences while working his summer vacations away at the factories around his home town. This article is relatable because Braaksma uses his personal experience to showcase the blue-collar life compared to life on a college campus. Overall, I agree with Braaksma’s opinion on how important receiving a higher education is because I have also experienced life without an education. “Some Lessons from the Assembly Line” shows the importance of a college education and the claim is well supported when Braaksma explains how exhausting blue-collar life can be and how unpredictable his life would be without receiving a degree. Knowing this deepened his appreciation for the opportunity to pursue an education, and leaves him passing the message onto high school and college students. College isn’t always the right choice for everyone, and some don’t have the chance to pursue one, but if given the chance, it’s an opportunity you shouldn’t waste. Braaksma writes his article with high school students and college students in mind, he says “"all the advice and public-service announcements about the value of an education that used to sound trite now ring true" (Braaksma, 2005). This relates him to the audience because everyone has heard the arguments about why you should go to college, but often time more is needed to persuade someone to take the leap. This is an important connection because it grabs the reader's attention and shows that if Braaksma can change his point of view, other people in a similar situation might be able to change their opinion too. The main idea the Braaksma wants to pass to his audience is how exhausting blue-collar work can be compared to life on a college campus. He describes his experience working in factories and states “making the transition between school and full-time blue-collar work during the break never gets any

easier" (Braaksma, 2005). He also mentions that “getting to a factory by 6 o'clock each morning, where rows of hulking, spark-showering machines have replaced the lush campus and cavernous lecture halls of college life, is torture” (Braaksma, 2005). This paints a picture of how the comfort of a college campus could differ from that of the cold factory production floor. These observations allow a solid argument for those thinking of foregoing college and heading straight into the workforce. Braaksma adds onto this by recalling what a coworker had once told him “this job pays well, but it's hell on the body. . . Study hard and keep reading” (Braaksma, 2005), this statement coming from a full-time blue-collar worker speaks volumes as even though Braaksma will return to college in a few short months, the production floor will continue to grind away. This quote also shows the value a college education holds not only with scholars but how blue-collar laborers perceive the value. During his time on the factory floor, Braaksma realized how different his life would be without pursuing a college education. Throughout his time spent on the production floor, Braaksma came to learn that the work isn’t always a stable employ: “as frustrating as the work can be, the most stressful thing about blue-collar life is knowing your job could disappear overnight” (Braaksma, 2005). Fear of relocation to countries with cheaper labor, downsizing and layoffs are unfortunately a realistic fear of the blue-collar industry. However, receiving a college degree can help eliminate this fear entirely. Besides the unstable environment that comes with the blue-collar industry, Braaksma had to face the pay to work ratio, finding that factory workers often make little compared to the amount of work they do. He came to this realization and said: "After a particularly exhausting string of 12-hour days at a plastics factory, I remember being shocked at how small my check seemed. I couldn't believe how little I was taking home after all the hours I spent on the sweltering production floor" (Braaksma, 2005). This is the sad reality that comes with the blue-collar industry, the pay rates for those kinds of positions are often far lower than that requiring a college degree. Keeping that in mind, a few years furthering your education seems like a small price to pay for financial stability. That amount of uncertainty really showcases what a college education can do for you and your future plans. When deciding myself, I had to consider what was best for my family, and the need to provide to lead me to this path.

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