Erma Bombeck's Essay 'Strive For The Best'

School will always have an impact on a person. Weather that influence is positive or negative, school has the ability to influence the rest of ones life. It is not only a place where one will learn the Pythagorean Theorem, or what the power house of a cell is, or even how to spell onomatopoeia. It is a place where we learn about the types of people out there in the world are, where we learn that everyone has their own story to tell, and where we learn the power of choice.

Achieving a college degree is worth the time and effort as well as the financial struggle because there is more to be gained besides context knowledge. College is something that has dropped in importance as less and less people attend every year. These students are unsure as to whether it is worth it.Parents push their kids towards college and some even tell them not to go because of financial problems. This pressure students to make a life changing decision. This is all things that may keep a student from a secondary education that could kick-start a new and better life.

From a very early age, I always assumed it was a part of my future to pursue an education. The American educational system engraves the importance of school at a very young age. Elementary school children are motivated through rewards when they try their hardest to reach their goals. Students are exposed to statistics and facts outlining the consequences of not getting a college degree as soon as they reach middle school. High school counselors and staff make it their priority to ensure that students apply to college. Students are conditioned to believe that education is the building block to a successful future. My cultural upbringing did not support my choice to pursue an education, however, I refused to conform to my family’s behavioral expectations because certain norms must be challenged due to progressive time periods and conflicting values.

For me, and probably many of my fellow students, higher education always seemed like a foregone conclusion: I never questioned if I was going to college, just where. No other options ever occurred to me. After working 12-hour shifts in a factory, the other options have become brutally clear. When I'm back at the university, skipping classes and turning in lazy re-writes seems like a cop-out after seeing what I would be doing without school. All the advice and public-service announcements about the value of an education that used to sound trite now ring true."(Braaksma,

The New York Times says that skipping college for no reason besides other than that the pace of gains has slowed, is akin to the idea of skipping medication for no reason other than the pace of medical improvements isn't what it used to be (Source D). Not attending college can be detrimental to a students life path and career. College is supposed to be a time of fun, growth and developing skills to help you pursue your passion. Learning in a higher education environment contends to helping students become agents of change, not victims of it (Source B). Becoming a well rounded and happy member of society is all based on the prep one receives for their future self; further education is another step to getting you

Going down the school path is more secure than starting a business or trying to invest your money into stocks. School isn’t for everyone, that’s why there is multi-billion dollar industries in the world. School is a path for those who want to further their education and boost their salary the safe and secure . You aren’t risking anything

I went through a lot in life as a child. Growing up was not easy as a kid ( especially

My whole life I have heard grown ups say that without going to college you will not be successful as an adult. I could either believe that it's true, but honestly college is not for everyone. Angel B Perez in the Editorial of Education Week, “Want to go to college? Learn to fail”, claims that students apply to college to be accepted and fail. In the United States it has been a myth or saying that only the people that graduate from college will not suffer in life, but it has been shown that people who didn't go to college still because billionaires like Steve Jobs. Perez gathers evidence and is proving that it's not true what the people say.

For nine years of my life I hated school. It just didn’t make any sense to me why every child was required to go to school for eight hours and a hundred and eighty days a year. Many of the things I’ve been taught I feel will not have any importance in my life later on after high school, but it doesn’t matter, I still had to learn it whether I liked it or not.

Until this day my mom always tells me to never surrender in school and to try my hardest to be successful. As Vince Lombardi quotes “The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand.” My interpretation of this quote towards school includes a lot of dedication but weather you pass or fail the task you study hard for, you have put time into making yourself better. As I grew older every day there would be obstacles in life, some that I would overcome and some obstacles that I would not. One major obstacle in life that really impacted my life was when the doctors discovered that my brother had schizophrenia. This sickness is a long lasting disorder that causes the person to have breakdowns, bad thoughts, and

Another reason I have returned to finish school is because I've been working towards it for the last decade or so. Like most youth, I thought the world owed me something. Wow, was I wrong. Not that I've reached mid-life but I have survived the quarter-life crisis. I guess that's my generation's way of asking the timeless question "what do I want out of life?" I guess it helps to feel like I'm a part of something bigger and that I'm not alone. It helps explain the apprehension of actually having to grow up and realize that stability and finances are important and that the things I want in life are ever changing, just like me. Life moves on whether I'm ready or not and having the tools to succeed and prosper is not only necessary but immeasurably valuable. These tools help to ultimately transition into adulthood.

Some people go to college to try and do what others in their family did not do. They try to do well for their parent’s sake, even if they do not like college one bit. Now, that may motivate them from the start, but as life goes on, they see that they do not have any help from their mom and dad or other family members. They start feeling alone and start to think that they need to do what is right for them. Some are there for popularity. They want to be the cool guy, not to study and make good grades. They do not see that their grades are really important. As time goes by, they see reality kicking in. They do not have time to boost their grade up, so they do what is easy and they drop out of college and base their life on “what will I do today?” Grades are what predict people’s future. It all pays off in the end, their family will be in a better home and their kids would want to motive themselves to have better jobs as

Finding a career that will provide for you can be very difficult if you do not follow the path to reach your goals. This is another reason to stay on track and work hard in school. Without your education, going into the work force and finding a good job that will provide for you and your family can be very hard. Most jobs require school degrees and sometimes certifications that require many hours of work. Without the degrees and the certifications, advancement in a job is sometimes impossible. Without advancement in a career, it is very hard to reach your goals of making that big salary, and having all of the enjoyable things in life.

School, to me and among many peers of my age, is not a distant term. I have spent one-third of my life time sitting in classrooms, every week since I was seven years old. After spending this much time in school, many things and experiences that happened there have left their mark in my memory. Some are small incidences while some have had a great impact on me. However, regardless the degree of significance, things that happened all contributed to shape the person that I am now.

We all know School is one of the biggest and most important parts of our lives, but is it really that important? We meet new people and learn what we what to do in life, the big question I have is “Does it actually do what we think”.