Graduation Speech : College Courses

Hi Ms.Barks, I am not sure if you remember me ( EAP 121,Winter 2015),just want to tell you I am done with ENG 101 and to thank you for the permit!!! It was very interesting expirience ( Bixby was my teacher),however I passed and moving on.This is my last quarter in Edcc , I am taking summer off and will be attending Shoreline community college this fall.Again,I just wanted to thank you for being supportive of me and allowing me to get closer to my goal!!!. I was very fortunate to have you as my teacher!!! Have a great summer!!!

Graduation season is in full swing and here at UMKC the first ever class of bridge to college is graduating Friday, May 6th, 2016.

II. Main Point (state as a single declarative sentence): The progress that I have made helped me lead up to writing well-developed essays. The main reason I believe my essays are improved because of the time I take on my pre-writing.

With more than 15 years experience in higher education at the university, state, and national level, I can genuinely say I enjoy my work. For many prospective students, the college admissions process is an arduous and daunting task. As a higher education administrator, college admissions and enrollment management allows me to improve the college search experience, provide avenues of opportunity, and assist students with what is potentially the first and most important adult decision they will make.

Students in today’s society are not adequately prepared in high school to enter and take on the challenges of college. Yet, millions of high school graduates dive right in because that is what they are expected to do. We are setting them up for failure by having this unrealistic expectation that students can succeed unprepared. According to The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, nearly 60% of all first-time college students in the United States discover that despite being fully eligible to attend college, they are not ready for postsecondary studies.

In order to gain a sense of familiarity for first- year college writing, a small portfolio of the student’s work was submitted to help high schools students become more prepared for the college writing techniques. A college writing course is much different than a high school class. Although the course is only a semester long, instead of the traditional year long class high schools provide, I have learned how to write a stronger essay in a shorter amount of learning time. For this portfolio my previous work is highlighted to use as a spectacle into what college level writing really entails. For this first- year college writing course, I discovered writing can have different opinions, needs reliable sources, and is more related to real world concerns. This course has provided a structure to excel in becoming a better writer.

Colin Powell once said, "There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure." The secret to success is preparation; however, preparation for college does not come easy, and there is only so far you can go by preparing yourself. I tried that, and if you look at my first college semester grades you can see that did not work. High school really is only there to prepare you for college; however, not everyone goes to college, and there is only so far you can go with a high school diploma. You really have to go to college to succeed, but when you come to college everyone is on different levels academically. Some come to college not even knowing what they want to major in. That is absolutely inexcusable of the high school system, which should better prepare students for college and their future careers.

In today’s society, children are taught as early as kindergarten that attending college and receiving a degree is a must, however over the last decade the state of Texas as well as the United States as a whole has seen a significant decrease in the number of students who actually go on to obtain their degree. The real question is if educators are pushing so hard to convince all students that they need to get a college degree, then why are we seeing such mediocre percentages of students actually achieving that goal? There isn’t just one answer to that question, but there are multiple factors that come into play regarding students not being able to finish college. At the end of the day getting a higher education is by far one of the most important things a modern day America citizen can acquire, the higher the completion rate the more efficient the United States will be in the long run.

Wow, I dedicated my lifetime and knowledge to a company for fourteen years, without warning I find myself unemployed without a degree! I thought the company that I worked for would be there forever. I assumed that the commitment, dedication and knowledge would be enough; I never considered that one day the company would cease to exist. I never attempted to complete my degree after taking this job, I was told that a degree would never impact my employment or the pay; looking back I realize that was flawed thinking. I find myself enrolling in school at the age of forty eight, needing a degree, in order to take care of my family. My children will be entering college in the next year; I will need to be in a position financially to ensure that happens. In this paper, I will share the challenges that I will face by returning to college, I have narrowed the many challenges and these are the two, which I believe will impact me the most.

During our meeting on March 23th, we discussed options to increase enrollment in the Early Degree Program (EDP). However, we quickly realized that low-income EDP students face a financial hardship when attending college without being eligible for the FAFSA. At this meeting, we decided that the best way to enroll more EDP students is to offer additional financial aid.

By taking the first step and acquiring a college education I am beginning the next necessary phase towards a rewarding future. This process is indispensable in providing a means to a lucrative future for me, or anybody for that matter, who is determined to stay focused and complete the work required. By choosing to continue on to four year degree, my college education will provide me with many opportunities and clear the path towards financial security, independence and self satisfaction upon completion. I am experiencing a greater understanding about my marketable skills while I assemble a noteworthy resume. Because of the experiences I have received in college so far, I have gained a competitive advantage in the labor market. Do to the assorted experiences, classes and instructors I have had the opportunity to interacted with in college, I am prepared to work in any environment whether it is customer service in a credit union, to bartending, as well as training staff for a restaurant while I finish up my education. My college years, so far, has provided me a unique opportunity to engage in areas which I would never entertained an interest in before. At present, a college education is paramount to procuring a position in many industries. I have noticed, in many instances, a degree from college is a minimum requirement for most employment opportunities.

Going to college can be a very rewarding experience for a traditional, or non-traditional student who wants to go back to school. More money on a paycheck can be a reason why someone would want to presume their education. Another reason why someone would want to go on to college would be to increase their intellect so they can be more sophisticated in life. Someone might also want to further their education because college teaches your life skills. A college education can be very rewarding for a traditional or nontraditional student by making more money, more intellect, and learning life skills for the world.

I am currently enrolled in college taking online classes. I’ve been taking online classes for more years than I care to remember. In the past I’d take a class or two here, and a semester break or two there. One of those breaks spanned nearly five years! It wasn’t until I was laid off from my job and forced to seek employment for the first time in nearly thirty-six years, that it became clear to me that most employers won’t seriously consider your application if you don’t have a college degree. While I had considerable experience in all of the fields I applied for, I lacked the educational requirements listed in the employment announcement. Now four classes away from achieving my goal I look back to considered all the hard work and sacrifice that has gone into my getting this far and I ask, “Could anything deter me from completing my mission and reaching my goal?” This paper will consider a similar situation and ask the question, “When faced with a problem, what do you do to solve it? To answer this question I will attempt to apply a six-step problem solving process to this specific problem. I will write a paper that presents a combination of my ideas about solving this problem using this systematic approach.

Throughout the previous years of my education, I have explored a variety of English and writing courses where I learned to dissect and explore the various meanings and intentions of authors and poets as well as my peers. Aside from the mandatory conventions that must be mastered in writing to ensure clarity, there are some characteristics that run deeper. These are what dictate whether or not a writer may truly become successful. A common theme that has been reinforced in my experiences is that of respect.

On graduation day, universities and colleges grant their students with an official piece of paper stating that they have earned a degree of their interest. Most, if not everyone sees it as another form of money paper, because basically after the two, four or five years in college, this certificate is our primary income. The idea I see and hear a lot from the society and mostly from parents, that education will increase your chances of getting a job, provides you an opportunity to be more successful and be less stressful while making your parents proud. Summarizing these ideas, education is the key, therefore, college is the lock.