Graduation Speech : College Toolbox

A higher education has been an important priority in my life. While I realized a high school education was important, my parents expected more. They said if I wanted to succeed in life, a college education was something that I could not live without. What they don’t tell you is how exhausting and confusing the process is to get even into.

Modern students are taking a new path in obtaining their college education. With advances in technology access to courses has never been easier. Students now have the ability to access their class to work on assignments when convenient for them. Access to student resources are now only a click away. Learning has been revolutionized in the past few years. Online and hybrid courses are making it possible for students to go to school while also managing busy lifestyles.

Why are schools not preparing students for college, for the real world, or how be successful in the work force? Many Americans ask this question and do not understand that Career and Technical Education (CTE), once called Vocational Education, do exactly that (Estacion, Deluca, Plank 346). They believe that all that schools teach are how to write, solve math problems, use the scientific method, and absorb the information discussed in history courses. Career and Technical Education uses experimental learning that gives students skills and motivation to graduate high school and be successful afterwards. Experimental learning is a concept that uses practical thinking and activities to grasp contexts and make learning information and skills easier (Fletcher and Hernadez-Gantes par. 3). Career and Technical Education give students opportunities to better themselves, and stay in school to create success in all aspects of their lives.

It is with great pleasure that I welcome you back to another academic year here at Prince George’s Community College. As our students return to campus and our faculty and professional staff prepare for the busy weeks and months to come, I wanted to take a few moments to look ahead to an exciting fall term and beyond, as well as share a few of the College’s highlights from the past year—a year that has seen us continue our growth and evolution into one of the most dynamic and exciting institutions in the region.

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!!!

Imagine that every high school senior in the United States was tested and then upon graduation assigned to a career based off of their score. Wouldn’t that be horrible? The world would be filled with people who hate their jobs. This is just a quick example of how a single test doesn’t define our future or who we are. Standardized tests like the SAT and ACT are extremely useful for college admissions officers but the tests are way too emphasized in the college process; this is why the exam makers should improve the exams so that the emphasis put on these exams matches the results it gives back.

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

1. I would like to enroll in the Senior Honors Program, because I think it will be an excellent way to complete my experience as a sociology undergraduate student at UC Berkeley. Since transferring to UC Berkeley in the Fall of 2015, many of the courses I have taken have focused on research and its importance to the field of sociology. The continued exposure to the diverse topics of sociological research, as well as the varied methods researchers use to collect their data, has shown me that many of questions I ask about the social world on a daily basis are potential sociological research projects. I find this fact to be inspiring as opposed to overwhelming, and I believe that the questions that I continually ask warrant further academic exploration. I want to participate in this program, because it will place me in an environment where I will be able to find academic answers to the questions that cross my mind regularly, and ultimately mold me into a more insightful and capable student.

After a year of writing: college entrance essays, scholarship essays, SAT essays, and AP essays I learned to hate writing essays. They were the death of me! During my first semester I avoided them at all costs. I would make an hour long presentation or a scrapbook to express myself so I didn’t have to sit at the computer for an hour and look at that dreaded blank page with the flashing cursor telling me I didn’t have a single word written. My second semester at U of A is when that started to shift. To change the way I wrote, I had to change the way I thought. That is exactly what I did. I have learned a lot about my own and others’ writing skills this semester by learning to analyze what works for papers and by identifying my strengths and weaknesses.

A decade or two ago, a college education was considered more so a privilege rather than a choice. Today, our society takes education for granted by opting out of it because of the expenses, the stress and many other reasons that comes with going to school. Is a college education still worth having? Arguments will continually arise that it is no longer needed to be successful in today’s world. However, research and statistics continually prove that having one will remain far more beneficial than not earning one. Your time in college is the prime time for you to explore your options, make lifelong connections, and discover your strengths and weaknesses while working to earn something that will give you the feeling of pride. Life after college is significantly better for college graduates because they attract high paying employers which in turn will help earn a higher income, not to mention the added perks that will provide security and satisfaction in life. Above all those reasons, getting an education is an example and a legacy you can pass on to your children.

It has become apparent now more than ever that having a college education is an unavoidable requisite in order to better ourselves. Every year thousands of students graduate high school and start to enroll in college. Another key factor in the decision towards obtaining a college degree is the example the young student saw at home; however, not all of the young students entering college come from a family with college graduate parents, which can play as a huge motivation in their path toward their college degree. Many people see this as the start of a new journey into the path of success since most Americans grow up with the idea that a college education will help us better our lives as well as to bring us success. According to Scott-Clayton from Columbia University, “Individuals with bachelor’s degrees earn about 60 percent more than those with just a high school diploma.” Today, we must not only acquire a high school education, but also graduate with a Bachelor’s degree. A college degree itself won’t guarantee you success, but it would give you the necessary tools and knowledge to achieve economic and personal success. In the future, the knowledge you achieved from your college education will become beneficial in plenty of ways.

Despite the fact, that some parents don 't want their children to fail in their education, failure is something that students should be able to value and parents should consider this a time of opportunity to learn from their mistake because my parents gave me the opportunity to fail and later on in life I achieved success from my fail and my personal experience as well as sherry connects with how failure improved education. For example in her essay, “ In Praise of the F word”, she states how countless students do not have the skills they need to succeed and how diplomas for students don’t value anything. Furthermore, she in the essay it also give a personal experiences about her son and how she as a parent had to make a decision. Therefore, what happened with her son also happened my mother with me. However, I was a nine year old and my parents had to decide if I should funk the second grade or pass. As a result, this had to be a fail or a success which sherry argues that educators and parents should not treat the word Failure as taboo with students but should treat it as a learning experience (559-601) . Correspondingly, educators and parents need to understand that the word “failure” in relation to education is tolerable and it should approved in the 2015.

"Wait! What are you saying?" as I stood there in incredulity as my high school math teacher told me I failed her class. Screaming, crying and fighting ran through my mind simultaneously; instead, I calmed myself and gathered my thoughts about what to do next. A deep breath oozed out of my mouth and someone said, "You can always go to summer school!" In that instant, my dreams seemed to come out of the grayscale color they quickly changed into, and back to the vibrant full-scale spectrum of vast colors that I envisioned for my future. I succeeded in summer school, followed by a bachelor 's degree and some years later, two master degrees. My appetite for teaching and learning has led me to chase my dream of being able to inscribe Dr. before my name. I have cultivated a deep desire to lead in curriculum planning and the delivery of instruction in order to reach all students; especially special needs, slow learners and at risk students.

English class seemed to be the most dreadful to take within school. Writing essays for most of my grade in a class is not what I was looking forward too. When I entered college I knew that it would be one of many challenging classes I would have to take. Starting from the lowest English class to moving on up, the writing assignments became longer and more thought out. The time came when I got into this class that I knew more work was going to have to be put into essays and thus brought out what I had not seen before in my work progress.

First, I would like to explore the “typical” route students will take upon graduating high school. In 2015, there were an estimated 20.2 million students expected to attend American colleges and universities, with 13.2 million of those students choosing 4-year universities (nces.ed.gov). Generally, 4-year universities prepare young adults for a degree that can help them continue on to grad school or a career in that field. Large universities have massive amounts of resources, funding, programs, and professors that can help students network and find internships or jobs in their degree field. Students also have access to hundreds of different academic, social, volunteer, or vocational clubs and groups. One of the best benefits of going to a four-year university is the college experience. Both of my parents say the friends they have now are the ones they met in college, and they get to reminisce on all the fun times they had. A university experience typically allows you to live away from home, thus gaining independence and creating your own lifestyle. For most high school students, the university experience is a big reason in why a majority of students choose this route.