'Blue Collar Brilliance,' Is College Worth It?

He claims, “ College, however is not always the logical next step for high school graduates”. (40) In this case, Schlack provides multiple alternatives that could substitute/replace college. However, some alternatives aren't always the best option. For example, the author mentions an assistant manager position at a local gas station, right out of high school. Although, the position will benefit the graduate and teach business skills without having to attend college, the same could be said vice versa. In this case, college can provide the opportunity of managing a business that is much more influential and substantial. Under those circumstances, attending college would be a better option than an assistant manager

There are people who became successful in life that did not go to college and earn the fancy degrees that many can point out. Some may use this to their advantage and say that they become just like them, such as Michael Dell. He is the co-founder and CEO of the Dell incorporation. He started that company in his dorm room but dropped out of college at the age of 19.That was his first year attending college. Also another successful person that is well known is Mark Zuckerberg. Mark Zuckerberg is the founder of Facebook and is the 400th richest American. He developed Facebook one year on summer vacation after borrowing money from Paypal’s co-founder Peter Theil; in 2008, Microsoft paid

One implication of college is that it’s the only route you can take to be successful. Charles Murray’s article “Are Too Many People Going to College” disagrees and believes that college really just prepares you for life. With still good focus towards a career but, there are many circumstances where individuals can get equal experiences going straight into the workforce. Murray uses the quote from John Stuart Mill who in 1867 told his students at St.Andrews that “Universities are not intended to teach the knowledge required to fit men for some special mode of gaining their livelihood” to help promote his argument. He claims that college is mainly preparing you for life, and I feel that there is still a heavy stress on the topic and learning the material. On the other hand I agree that kids that go straight to work out of high school be equally successful if done right, and do so without paying thousands of dollars a year on college. Do not fall into the illusion that college is the only option, look at everything there is to offer.

In the article “Blue-Collar Brilliance”, Mike Rose’s main focus was to convey that there are forms of intelligence than just being intellectual. Rose, suggest that a broader perspective of education allow us to expand our understanding of what intelligence is. Rose explains what our culture views as intelligence: “Our cultural iconography promotes the muscled arm; sleeve rolled tight against biceps, but no brightness behind the eye, no image that links hand and brain” (Rose). In making this comment, Rose urges us to take a step back and to look society’s perception of blue-collar work as not as demanding or requiring as much brain powering as white-collar work. Often people do not realize that a person who has a blue-collar job is just as

Despite what the current belief about higher education might convey, not everyone has to attend college. Larry Cuban attests to the rendering mantra of everyone needs to go to college in his blog post, “Why Everyone Shouldn't Go To College”, reposted by The Washington Post. Surely Cuban does not agree with common and popular belief that everyone needs to attend college in order to be successful in life. Cuban leaves the reader with the uncertain questions of, what could they do instead going to college, will they make a stable living, does higher education mean they’ll not be as successful as a person who doesn’t? Cuban does not address the different options that a person can attend other than college or the benefits of actually attending college.

Have you gone to college? Does going to college really mean that you are more intelligent than someone who didn’t go to college? Well, in “Blue Collar Brilliance”, the author Mike Rose believes that the amount of schooling a person completes does not necessarily measure their intelligence level. Many people believe that those who have completed and earned a college degree are more intelligent than those who haven’t. I agree with Rose that this isn’t always the case. Education is not only something that we can gain in school, but in our everyday lives.

In society, there is an expectation that one must obtain an education to become an intelligent and successful individual. The amount of intelligence you obtain, according to society, is dependent on the type of school or how long an individual attends school. Society has this idea that you can not be successful without an education and they only way to become successful is if you are educated. To Rose however, this is not the case. Rose succeeds in convincing his audience that receiving an education does not mean more intelligence and success.

The articles “Blue-Collar Brilliance” written by Mike Rose and “Are Too Many People Going to College?” by Charles Murray discuss the importance of education and its outcomes. Both authors talk about people’s careers on the aspect of whether a college degree made them succeed in life or it is just an expensive waste of time. Also, each article has its own opinion over the fact that some people with college education aren’t able to find jobs while others with no college background are able to succeed. Rose and Murray, both agreed on the idea that college isn’t for all just simply because of its cost, and how each person’s intelligence does not depend on their acceptance to a college; further, both authors also acknowledge the importance of blue-collar workers and their prosperity.

In recent discussions of “Is College Worth It?” By John Green, a controversial issue has been whether, people should attend college or get a job after they finish high school. On the one hand, some argue that people can get a monthly income better than if they have a degree. From this perspective, some people they do not want to attend college. On the other hand, however, others insist that people should attend college after they finish high school. In the words of John Green, one of this view’s proponents, “after graduating from college, I actually made $1 per hour less when I started working as an assistant at Booklist Magazine, but the job was better in every way” (video). According to this view, he was working at Stake and Shake and he was getting better salary than what he got after graduate by 1$ less but money is not everything in life. Then he proved to the audiences through his experience that he was more comfortable with working as assistant at Booklist Magazine even he is making less money. Because he got a better job, got the knowledge, and work on something that he like. In sum, then, the issue is whether to attend college or work without a degree. My own view is that attending college is worth it even if it will cost some sacrifices of things that we can get it in the future. After, all, I have chosen to identify as a college student at Winona State University. Though I concede that choosing the university and working to

Bird’s final point is that college does not prepare most people for the jobs they are going to have in the future.  She states the work attached to most jobs is totally unrelated to their college education. For example, although there are many graduates with a psychology degree, there are only so many jobs in psychology. The remaining graduates are forced to find jobs with work unrelated to the degree they have obtained. Also, she brings up the point that college does not make people intelligent and successful, but successful and intelligent people go to

Sometimes a college degree does not pay off as one might hope, and sometimes the competitiveness of certain schools or programs make the cost issue even more prominent. When all is said and done, college might lead to debt and the shattering of dreams. Hence, the resounding question is, “is college worth it?” The answer to this questions is even more daunting for today’s average family and prospective high school graduates.

According to John A Hannah, he said and I quote, “Higher education must lead the march back to fundamentals for human relationships, to the old discovery that is ever new, that man does not live by bread alone.” He is saying here to me that you need a college education to make it in the real world.

College is not for everyone, nor is it required for a lot of jobs today. A reason that people do not necessarily have to go to college is because most jobs today don’t require going to college. Last year, “according to the federal reserve bank of new york, 46 percent of recent college graduates were in jobs that don’t even require a college degree.” This is saying that majority of those that went to college wasted their time and money for something that was not needed. The more people waste their time, the longer it will take to be successful. This is one example that supports why college is not necessary.

In “College in America,” Caroline Bird expresses her opinion on education focused around the year 1975. Bird disagrees with the the idea of high school graduates being forced to attend college since she believes that the chances of being successful without a degree are just as high as someone with a degree. She points out that sometimes college is a waste of time and money. The money a college graduate earns is not much different compared to the money a high school graduate makes due to college expenses, loans and interest rates. Moreover, Bird dislikes how in today 's society, a degree defines a person. Many people idealise that college will help them obtain a successful future. Bird counteracts this education ideal by providing an

College is seen as a requirement for a stable life. From an early age, we are taught that college is an essential step in life. Yet is college all that it is pumped up to be? Stephanie Owen and Isabel Sawhill along with Charles Murray gives us a good look into the benefits and drawbacks of going to college and take us on a journey of understanding that college may be a hindrance for some rather than an intelligent move.