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English Composition 122 Stephanie Campbell 4/25/2021 Critical Analysis 8-4

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 describe the typical blue-collar life compared to life on a college campus. Braaksma’s opinion on how important receiving a higher education is relatable because many people have lived a life without a higher education before. In “Some Lessons from the Assembly Line” Braaksma explains how exhausting blue-collar life can be and how unpredictable his life would be without receiving a degree, further explaining how valuable a college education can be. Knowing how the other half lived deepened his appreciation for the opportunity to pursue an education, and left him passing the message onto high school and college students. The chance to earn a college degree is something that should never be taken for granted. When reading this article, you can tell Braaksma has the high school and young college student in mind when 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 by demonstrating that he too has heard the generic arguments that come with making the choice to continue with your education, with those aren’t always enough. Making that choice is hard but by connecting with his audience, Braaksma shows that even he can change his mind about the topic. Many things led to Braaksma changing his mind, lessons that were learned over his summers would stay with him even though he would return to campus come fall. Braaskma speaks about the differences in experience between the lush college campus and the harsh reality of factory life. Braaksma describes the experience working in factories and states that “making the transition between school and full-time blue-collar work during the break never gets any easier” (Braaksma, 2005). It’s also mentioned 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 harsh factory production floor. These observations demonstrate the choice one would face when deciding to head straight into the workforce or choosing the further their education. 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 statement also allows the reader to see how a college education is valued by scholars, but also blue-collar workers. During his time on the factory floor, Braaksma realized what his life could look like if he would forgo college and enter the workforce. Throughout the time spent on the production floor, Braaksma came to learn that the blue-collar industry isn’t always a stable one: “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 reality that comes with the blue-collar industry, the compensation for those kinds of positions are often far lower than one 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 the benefits that come with a college education. When deciding to attend college in pursuit of a degree, keep the lessons Braaksma talks about in mind.. All these lessons are responsible for the change of perception and the deeper appreciation Braaksma has for his chance to receive a higher education. He states “how and when I learned these

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