Caroline Sacks

As a result, she lacked confidence in her education. She stated, “My early education did not partake of the abundant opportunities which the present day affords and which even our common schools now afford. I was never sent to any school; I was always sick.” Even though she did not attend a formal school it did not put her out of reach of a proper education (Peterson, 9).

Abigail Fisher applied for undergrad admission to the University of Texas in 2008. Fisher, a white female, did not qualify for automatic admission because she was not in the top 10 percent of her graduating class. Abigail had high school GPA of 3.59 and ranked in the top 12% of her class at Stephen F. Austin High School. She scored 1180 on the out of a possible 1600. To compare Abigail’s scores to the incoming class of University of Texas the 25th percentile was 1120 and 1the 75th percentile was 1370 on the SAT. Abigail was also involved in math competitions, the orchestra, and community

She recalls the struggles, the fun, her failures and even her success in the end (Harding, 2011). The personal story shows the real road it takes with decisions we make “when entering college, Harding wrote that she began college because she felt it was expected of her”(Harding, 2011). College students often make choices based on what they perceive as pressure to do so by others like councilors, parents and even society. They enter college thinking this is what my plan should look like and not making choices that are the best for them. Harding said that in the end “ we all become graduates of one of the finest universities in the world- and already, nobody much cared how we got there”(Harding,2011). To me this shows that even if you pass by the skin of your teeth, you can still fail in the end. A diploma is not the end result that maters the most. Students need to choose colleges that appeal to their needs and goals and not just go to get a diploma. If students spend no time studying weather boarded or not liking their studies, then what difference does the diploma make in the end. Students would just have a degree that often goes unused in life but the costs is ever mounting to these students. The financial cost, the cost of failure, loss of energy and time, causes many students to never finish their education or even to avoid going in the

College was the first actual realization Anne Moody had on focusing more on things that were greater then herself. She knew what she was capable of and she was not going to blend in with the rest of the African American population whose attitude was close to being hopeless. Even when she was at her pinnacle of being an inspirational

In the novel, “A Hope in the Unseen” written by Ron Suskind explains the journey of Cedric Jennings from the Inner City to the Ivy League. Throughout his journey Cedric Jennings has had to navigate many challenges first at Ballou High School, then MIT in the summer, and finally at Brown University. During his High school career at Ballou he received many backlash from his peers because of his devotion to his studies. In Ballou High School, “the school’s dropout/transfer rate at nearly 50 percent, it’s understandable that kids at Ballou act as though they’re just passing through”(Suskind 3) but not Cedric. He had a determination like no other to succeed academically where he would often stay after to finish his homework and work on SAT practice

In the beginning on page 60, her parents argued that she didn't need to go to a "high class" college like Stanford but to a "college nearby", an all black college. She explains that her working-class parents feared what a college education would do to her mind, so they subjected her to harsh and bitter critique

I agree with the author that the ranking of the school has become the most important thing for students to consider when applying for university. Since the students also believe it that way, colleges try to increase their ranking by using these students. The author says, “Colleges are increasingly deploying huge marketing machines that flood students’ mailboxes with glossy brochures whether or not those students are qualified.” To earn a higher ranking, the college must have a lower acceptance rate. Therefore, colleges are creating a false hope for families in order to receive more applications, so they can reject more and directly increase their acceptance rate. Other than that, the students also suffered a lot in order to get into the top college. Because of the low acceptance rate, the applicants need to be perfect in high school. They need to take almost exclusively AP and accelerated classes, participate in many clubs, serve the communities and sleep an average of four hours a night. This might affect the students’ mental physical health. For example, Kathleen developed extreme migraine, scoliosis, and ovarian cysts when she tried to get into the university she

In “Chapter 2” Irene Hunt focuses on Josh’s plan to leave his home. Howie meets up with Josh after rummaging through trash. Then, Josh tells Howie that he doesn’t want to see Chicago again. Josh believes that his family wants him to leave, and also believes that he and his friend can survive on their own, with the help of their musical talents. Surprisingly, the boys saw Josh’s brother, Joey, approach them. Joey demands that he goes with them. With the help of Howie, Josh who was first not sure about Joey tagging along, allows his brother to join them. Therefore, Josh and Joey pack their clothes and other needed items to join Howie, who was waiting on them with his banjo.

While Chloe Moore, who is a senior as well, is extremely excited about graduating from the McDonough High School. Unlike Ayanna, Chloe comes from a wealthy family where her family can afford to send her to an Ivy League University or any university of her dreams. However, Chloe does not have the grades to be accepted into an Ivy League University, but since she comes from a wealthy family, her parents have a lot of connections at these universities. Chloe’s G.P.A. is barely a 2.0 and throughout her high school career, she struggled to see her graduation day. While Ayanna has the grades, but her family does not have the connections at any university nor can barely afford to send her to a community college. Chloe does not take her education as seriously as Ayanna does since she knows that she will not have to worry about

The vocabulary words I chose from this chapter are indomitable, which means impossible to subdue or defeat and resplendent, which is something attractive or impressive through being rich, colorful, or sumptuous. Both of these apply to this chapter and throughout David and Goliath with respect to the underdogs vs. giants, in particular, the underdogs all posses the quality of being indomitable in pursuing formidable opponents on a consistent basis usually achieving success. On the other hand, giants posses an appearance of being resplendent, although, in the end the mirage of magnificence quickly dissipates in light of the underdogs utilization of unconventional and subjective methods; thus, overcoming overwhelming powers or disadvantages/difficulties

I am a kind of person always seeking for challenges, in order to recognize my limit. When I was in grade 10, I was lucky enough to have the opportunity of writing The Canadian Open Mathematics Challenge. It was a Canadian Mathematical Olympiad contest. I was so delighted to develop where I was standing in the aspect of Math achievement; Mathematics was my weakest subject throughout my whole academic experience, accordingly, I had to spend some degree of time on investigating Olympiad Mathematics as a new thing. Obviously, it had become a more challenging circumstance for me. Even though the outcome was not a high standing one, I am still satisfied with the challenge itself, and the process of developing an unfamiliar topic. In addition, I had

Upon doing research on Charles Murray it was discovered that he went to Harvard, which may make one doubt the validity of his argument. Another faulty is that a man who went to such a prestigious school will have a different expectation than someone who went to the University of New Hampshire for example. Of course he doesn’t think college is for everyone because not everyone may be able to make it through a college as vigorous as Harvard. Anyone that attends Harvard has some amount of talent but “anything below an IQ of 110 is problematic…if you want to do well [in college], you should have an IQ of 115 or higher” (Kirszner, Mandell 677). By making this statement, one can doubt his arguments validity; he may be making too high of an expectation for the “qualifying” student academically college abled and underestimating the “unqualified” college student that should try two years of vocational school before attempting a four year college. Millar, who did not attend an Ivy League school like Murray, and did an exceptionally well job of convincing her readers by stating facts with opinions. If a woman who went to UCLA can do that, than Murray may be overestimating college and adding more insult than encouragement. If a parent has a child with an IQ less than that of a “qualifying” one, then Murray may appear discriminatory towards an audience that is associated

Jackie’s lowest point in life was when her mother died of breast cancer 6 years ago and even if she didn’t show it Jackie says without her mother in her life she would have never reached the place she is now. With a well over good paying job, healthy nourished children and 2 story house in a safe friendly neighborhood. She states that her lowest point in life was when her mother died she fell into a deep state of depression and a finiacial hole. Shes healing everyday shes gives it up to God and her mother for helping her be the best she could be. In college she states it is so important to be more responsible for your own education and although they care about their students, teachers are less strict and unwilling to chase their students around for assignments.College teachers are are less likely to be taken advantage of and manipulated like most of the teachers in high school because you are paying to take the class its not their life its yours.College is important because it helps you get a good career, good education, a well-paying job, keeps you active, and rewards you with

In primary school Madison showed higher intelligence than her fellow classmates. As she moved from eighth grade into ninth grade, she tested well and became interested in taking the SAT and ACT tests. After meeting with the school counselor, she expressed her enthusiasm for attending college. After she graduated from high school, she immediately began attending college. She knew keeping a routine was necessary for effective learning and studying. Going to Wichita Area Technical College, she chose to complete all of her general education classes and transfer to Wichita State University to complete her degree in Healthcare Administration and Management. After graduating from WSU, she went on to receive a masters from Newman University.

She made a huge improvement in her academics from when she used to go to Thompson Valley to now. Some of the challenges she has faced has to do with her family life. Her family seems to get in fights often and Brittnie gets involved sometimes. Some of her family members have anger issues which escalates the fights within the home. This is difficult for Brittnie to deal with and she does not enjoy going home. Another challenge she has had is that both her older and younger sister has tried to take their own lives which is very difficult for Brittnie to deal with. There are a few contextual factors that influence Brittnie’s life.