I Am An International Student Attending University Of Texas

Critical examination of the four liberal arts breadth areas, in their natural state, demonstrate that each area of study brings value and purpose to life. It is important to focus on developing weaknesses to gain fulfillment while using strengths to help others succeed.

General Education requirements for students results in a longer time to actually work on minor and major requirements. Allysa Pracz, Oral Communications teacher at Northern Illinois University, holds a just and honest opinion that General Educations classes are useless because they may have nothing to do with one’s major. For instance, a college algebra course would obviously have no effect on a student studying Creative Writing. The only question left to answer would be, why do such requirements exist? It could also be understood that courses required in fact focus on what students should have learned in high school. Pracz recalls her freshman year in college, stating, “I remember as a freshman taking classes such as ENGL 103 or COMS 100. Yes, both classes may be beneficial to some, but they mostly just rehash concepts and skills that the majority of students already possess or will pick up in other courses throughout their academic careers.” College students should be somewhat familiar with the basic concepts of many subjects offered, such as writing papers or algebra. It could also be proven that students are not quite interested in classes that they see as useless. For instance, students who major in Apparel Merchandising would have no interest in taking biology courses. Disinterest could ultimately result in bad grades and a low GPA for students.

According to The Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), a study found that “at peak earnings ages (56-60 years) workers who majored as undergraduates in the humanities or social sciences earn annually on average about $2000 more than those who majored as undergraduates in professional or pre-professional fields.” This study which was conducted also found that the unemployment rate for recent liberal arts graduates showed a declining unemployment rate of only 5.2 percent. Not only does the estimated 9.6 million individuals hold a bachelor’s degree in the humanities or social sciences field, nearly 4 million of these individuals also attain a graduate or professional degree. These graduates with advanced degrees usually

The essay “A New Liberal Arts,” which was written by Sanford Ungar, first appeared in the Chronicle of Higher Education on March 5, 2010. In his essay, Ungar uses many different rhetorical strategies to convince his reader that a degree in the liberal arts is not a lost cause but can actually be very beneficial and lead to success. In Ungar’s opinion, there are many wrong ideas and misunderstandings about the usefulness of a degree in the liberal arts. In the essay there are seven specific misperceptions that he addresses specifically. By listing out these misperceptions, Ungar is addressing them individually in order to give each one proper attention. He offers explanations to why people may think these things and why he believes that they are incorrect. Ungar’s use of style, format, and emotional and logical arguments help him to create a persuasive and influential essay for his audience and convince them to agree with his opinion.

More people than ever before are attending college due to the endless opportunities that it provides. Louis Menand, a college professor and the author of “Live and Learn: Why We Have College,” explains the meaning of college through three theories that have been developed. Theory 1 supports the idea of the sorting-out process that separates the highly intelligent from the less intelligent. Menand’s second theory explains that college provides opportunities for developmental growth, personal growth, and teaches individuals about the world around us. These are valuable lessons that will not be learned anywhere else. Theory three supports the idea of people attending college to specialize in a specific vocation. I

College can be found to be a place of better intellect for individuals, a place where thinking critically is encouraged. The educational system has been structured in order to meet the needs of many students and few instructors, so lectures is considered as a base for teaching. Not many venture to find new ways of breaking this foundation of education, and so colleges have kept the existing standard. More students are becoming more intellectual as time progresses, so individuals need to find more diverse ways to teaching the generations to come. Technology and the many forms of art can benefit the educational system by encouraging higher levels of cognitive thought.

The evolution of time is the cause of the various changes in the universe; it keeps on producing new concepts to challenge and a better understanding of the importance of education in everyone’s life. Despite all of the struggling college students might face, yet college education is always a smart decision and the right investment towards the future. Earning a bachelor 's degree is an extremely valuable step which prepares the person for a long journey of a wide variety of job opportunities, high payment, better economy, and a brighter future.

“The college student has the task of creating meaning out of her or his learning, or alternatively, of creating a curriculum, or an education out of the raw materials of the various courses that she or he takes. This task is accomplished by building an edifice in which the various components are related to each other in the various ways described. Each student will have a unique curricular structure; even two students who take the same set of courses may have different educations because they may relate the component courses in different ways.”

Hrabowski perceives that colleges do well to encourage and promote students to be successful in their future jobs and that the process of attending college itself is sufficient in teaching such “street smarts” as reviewed by Graff. Despite some contradiction between Hrabowski and Graff in previously discussed topics, Hrabowski is in agreement with Graff on in various ways. Such as, while college helps prepare students for future jobs, these jobs are only starting points and should not be the ending point. He continues by weighing the vast complexity of college success. He feels, in agreement with Graff, there is room for improvement in college, although Hrabowski stresses “There needs to be a more effective way to help people find the correct path for personal needs in higher education.” (Hrabowski 260) Graff continues in his essay sharing that intellect surrounds everything. Researchers are known to suggest that intellect is only in regards to schooling involving math, reading, english, and science or in other words academic based things only. On the contrary Graff would argue, “intellectualism is in everything.” (Graff 265). Sports were Graffs main concern, and interest in his younger years. Consequently, it was through sports he was able to find a love to study statistics, summarize interviews done with athletes, and many other intellectual practices. It wasn’t until college, that he was able to

In the article, “What Is College For? (Part 2)” written by Gary Gutting we see a description of his ideal vision to improve education and the intellectual culture of our citizens. Mr. Gutting emphasizes that preparing students for employment should be the job of the elementary, middle and high school rather than college. He argues that higher education is basically unnecessary for the practice of many professions.

There are many benefits to getting a Liberal Arts degree in today’s economic market. It is a message to your employer that you are willing to take on new information, and learn more then what is necessary to succeed. It shows initiative and the ability to expand your horizons beyond yourself. In a Liberal Arts education there is more purpose then just learning the career field of choice. It is a program that teaches critical thinking and self-thought. It teaches the student how to learn and teach themselves, to achieve more than just memorization of facts.

Colleges are struggling to adapt to society’s changing requirements for adults entering the work force. John Fawell laments this change and states that humans intrinsically desire to learn more for the purpose of knowing more. However, the focus has shifted away from this and has become more career-oriented. This shift is not well supported in the current college system. The education system is aware of this change and some have modified their programs, but they are too narrow and a broad college education is lost. Even though it has become almost mandatory in society, a college degree does not prepare students for a real-world work environment and is not necessary for most occupations. Many, such as lawyers or doctors, do require further education and a system that instructs them while also training the majority of the workforce would be an improvement.

With a degree from a first-rate college connections are made with potential jobs; job applicants without degrees are looked down upon by employers. By attending college, young adults make connections and earn preferable jobs. According to Hill, many college graduates are given jobs over those who did not go to college because of the connections they made while in school. John Siva, an economist at Wells Fargo Securities, urges all young people to attend college because they are more likely to be hired by future employers. Silva also proclaims that the number of jobs which require a college degree is rapidly increasing (Hill). Some highly acclaimed people are adamant in their opinion that college will give its graduates connections to future jobs. In addition, college graduates receive jobs over applicants who do not attend college. In “College Graduates Fare Well in Jobs Market, Even Through Recession” by Catherine Rampell, a New York Times economist, it is reported that unemployment for college graduates is 3.9%, while unemployment for the workforce as a whole is 7.5%. According to the Labor Department, the number of college-educated workers with jobs has risen 9.1%, whereas the number of non-college educated workers with jobs has decreased 9% (Rampell). The number of workers without a high school diploma has dropped 14.1% as shown according to Rampell. These statistics only reiterate the fact that employers are hiring college-educated workers over those without a

Martin Luther King Junior said, “Intelligence plus character-that is the goal of true education.” Higher education does not exist for the sole purpose of preparing students for future jobs; it’s there in order to prepare individuals for life where they are expected to participate in their community, their government, and the lives of those around them. Liberal arts, in particular, exist for the broadening of students’ minds in order for them to be successful not only in their chosen career but also in their lives outside of it. Liberal arts lost their past popularity during the last few decades, but they shouldn’t be disregarded in favor of technical and professional degrees because they still provide students with skills that are perhaps less tangible, but no less necessary for life in modern world.

“Too many students aren’t sure what job they could get after four, five, or even six years of studying a certain major and racking up education loans”(255). Singletary is given the fact that numerous students are confused on their own majors even though they have studied for years. And parts of the students even start realizing their majors might be in a hopeless employment situation after they graduate from that particular field. Therefore, before choosing a field of study, it is necessarily worthwhile for students and parents to check out the majors whether in the highest or the lowest unemployment. According to new statistics on unemployment for recent college graduates by The Huffington Post this June, majoring in social science and creative fields, such as anthropology, film, fine art, etc. have earned the top three of the unemployment rate. In contrast, engineering technologies, math, and computer science remain at the top of the employment chart. Alex Tabarrok mentions the harsh unemployment rate in his article, “…More than half of all humanities graduates end up in jobs that don’t require college degrees…”(250). The society has never shown mercy to students who are unlikely to be employed with the majors they have. Graduating without employment must be one of the biggest nightmares for most students; however, selecting an in demand major can surely decrease the chances of being