My Journey Into The World

High school graduation marks the start of young adults’ lives, a time where they are expected to decide what they want to do for the rest of their lives. Many young adults are pressured into attending college, whether they have determined their goal or not, but is it necessary? “The Case Against College,” an article written by Linda Lee, a mother who has questioned the former belief that college equals success, claims that “not everyone needs a higher education.” College, though beneficial to many, is not for everyone and should not determine an individual’s life.

What we call the American Dream, the founding fathers called the pursuit of happiness. The American Dream is built on the promise that individuals from all walks of life can find success and prosperity here. It shapes from our opinions, desires, interests, cultures, geographical locations, and religions. Some presume the dream of becoming an engineer, a medical doctor, an athlete, a politician, or even maybe following their father’s footsteps and carrying on the family tradition of owning a restaurant. Sometimes, achieving this success is associated with the conception of receiving an education, especially a college education. The common debate of today’s society has always been whether

The average age that a person has kids is around the age of twenty-nine (Bates). So not only does one have to balance bills, focus on a career, they could also have to take care of a life. To be fully prepared to enter the real world, an individual must basicly have there life planned out as soon as highschool. It is very hard to put these heavy choices on a kid as young as thirteen years of age. A decision a person makes on what they do affects them for the rest of their life, so why make a decision that is so heavily weighed, be even allowed to be chosen by someone so juvenile. Many teens are worried about gossip, relationships, sports, and social status. College is just something a highschool thinks of usually around junior year, or early senior year, even senior year where a high school student makes their decision about what colleges to apply to, or accept to get into; they are also distracted with SAT’s, ACT’s, Friday night lights, grades, and school dances like prom or cotillion. Being sidetracked by all these factors and many more a logical decision can not be made without taking even more time to not just double check a decision, but triple check, or four times or more. An individual can never be too sure about

Teens are constantly told by their parents that college is “ABSOLUTELY” necessary to be successful in this world. Fun fact: It’s not. College isn’t necessary because it isn’t required to be successful, and as many students have the mindset that college is the road to success, education has changed over time and it’s not as helpful as it used to be. Many schools build their students up to be a great student for a great college. But, when they go to the college to follow the dream that someone has set in their mind, they drop out and look at themselves as failures. All for what? For the approval of those who’ve pushed them to work for a dream that is not their own.

However, we must remember an important fact: our generation of American faces the same wall of hopelessness that stood before those who lived through the Great Depression – and they overcame it. What we can take from them, is that we can succeed if we accept the simple fact that we must do what must be done, even if it isn’t desirable. If we graduate with a degree in fashion marketing and fail to secure employment, we work at a retail store in order to pay rent and get the bills paid. Running around for hours to work in a store takes grit; being underemployed takes gut; learning from experience and applying it to one’s life creates character. And one day, we grow. That in my belief is “the Dream.” For too many versions of “the Dream” equate prosperity to happiness, happiness I feel is not so simple. This makes it seem that the American Dream may always remain tantalizingly out of reach for some Americans, making the dream more like a cruel joke rather than a genuine dream. Perhaps, what our generation needs is to

Everybody knows that after high school you attend college, right? College is expected from society that has been placed for decades; it’s what you do is what society expects with these expectations comes pressure. Pressure from peers, choosing the right college, group mind, and deciding whether or not if you would like to attend college. College is not for everyone, so when a student is pressured to attend college, they often drop out before the first semester ends. The pressure doesn’t end with the initial decision, it continues with course selection or declaring you’re major. So they attend college to find themselves, and to see what they’re interested in. In the 21st century, the pressure to attend college causes students to fall under the pressure and attend college even when it not the best fit for the student.

Since I was a little girl, I always knew I had potential to do great things. I've always been good in school, but not maxed out my full potential. As I got older I learned more about what the "American Dream" is. Too many people say its money, the more money you make the better off you are. I have learned that money isn’t always the answer. The true meaning of the “American Dream is really success and happiness in any thing you do. But how do you really achieve that goal? Now a day’s education is the key to success. When I turned eight teen I made up my mind I was just going to graduate and work. I wasn't interested in college at all. I was tired

Is there too much pressure on teenagers to go to college? we’ve all heard teachers, parents and a lot of other people say when you get out of high school, you should go to college and get a degree, so you can get a good paying job and not have to worry about bills, money and so on. In this essay I will argue that teens and kids are getting too much pressure about going to college. Some people object and say that college is good no matter what kind of job you plan on getting or if you even plan on getting a job, but I will argue that going to college should be more of a chose and not seem to be a have to thing no matter what.

For example, hard work, willpower, and initiative give the notion to an average worker that there is equal opportunity to be successful and prosperous. The American Dream is dead however, “A recent poll showed that more than half of all people in this country don’t believe that the American Dream is real” (Eskow). This distaste stems from the aforementioned effects of Capitalism, like the shrinkage of a middle class, education costs, and retirement security. With the description of the American Dream, it is clear that it is not achievable when it is reported that “the middle class hasn’t seen its wage rise in 15 years,” and that in 2013 the “corporate profits rose five times faster than wages” (Eskow). Wages remain the same, all the while prices increase, and people are becoming debt-dependent, or dependent of spending more than they actually have in order to maintain the standard of living they are used to (Eskow). Even worse, millennials face inevitable debt from student loans and the gap of what they make and what they can afford. College is the “‘facilitator of the American Dream.’ But at that point college costs had risen 500 percent since 1985, while the overall consumer price index rose by 115 percent” (Eskow). College has, in the last three decades, quickly become a challenge to young adults, rather than an opportunity because of the financial disadvantages, and the disillusion of the American Dream. Finally, retirement and social security are threatened by these growing expenses, which is why 20 percent of Americans that are nearing the retirement age have not been able to save and anticipate their post working years (Eskow). Americans no longer can expect to retire around the age of 65, and live based off of pensions, social security, and lifetime savings. In conclusion, the American Dream is a dangerous illusion, that affects the millennials who are characterized by virtues of uniqueness and

Ever since I was a child, I had always been bombarded with the same question: “What do you want to be when you grow up?”. I was quite indecisive so my answers changed from astronaut to scientist to lawyer to president almost every other week. Regardless of what I had responded, my mom would always remind me about how essential a college education would be to obtaining that goal. My parents and I had immigrated from El Salvador when I was two years old, with my parents giving up any chance of them obtaining a college degree just so that I could get access to the best education. My parents do not work high paying jobs and I witness the sacrifices they made for me everyday with their hard work, their long hours,

When we were younger, we were told that we had the world at our fingertips and that anything was possible. We could be anything we wanted and not have to worry about a thing, except maybe disappointing our parents. However, as we grew up, it became quite clear that that is no longer the case. The price of college has skyrocketed within the past 20 years, while the average income for a family has remained relatively the same. With a college diploma becoming more and more necessary to get a decent paying job and colleges being too much to pay for,

When looking at are futures many of us have a plan of what are life might be. For many young people, college is something that can be a key part of that future. However, right now in our society, a college education is no longer an option or privilege, but rather is seen as a necessity. Young people today are practically raised and conditioned to believe that higher education is the best path in order to succeed in life. Going to college has become a social status with many people going to college to simply be a college student while hoping that their time will be worth it by getting an amazing job in the end. However, it turns out that college is not always worth it because of how expensive college can be, how unreliable some of the

Teenagers have too much pressure on them to go to college. Glatter reports in her web article that 75 percent of surveyed high-school pupils said they felt too burdened. Many high-schoolers take immense amounts of AP, dual enrollment, and college classes to get attention from colleges due to the insistence as well. Montgomery and Robertson state that teens that are already dead set on pursuing a college recognize that parents are twisting the arms of young adults and making them feel they need very high test scores. These teens want parents and relatives to stop pressuring these young adults who have not yet decided on what their plan is.

Children are told from an early age that they can become anything they want to be, and people flock in droves to the United States, “The Land of Opportunities” to achieve this American Dream. Author, James T. Adams, coined the term American Dream in his book “The Epic of America” as, "That dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement.” (Adams p.214-215) It is true, people in this country do have the opportunities to become anything they want to be. For many, obtaining a college degree is their route to success. By 2018, 60% of jobs in America will require a college degree. (Carnevale,

The Lord states all things are possible through him (Philippians 4:13, King James Version), this is the motto I find myself holding to at this juncture in my journey as a novice researcher. The journey is similar to climbing a mountain, where the experiences will encompass both successes and struggles as at the peak the finished product will demonstrate an understanding of the process the identifies a topic and addresses the problem. This week I found a reflection wrote in April when I took this course but withdrew due to caring for my dying Grandmother. I am pleased that I did apply some of my advice without realizing, but saddened that some I did not as it applies to now. During both attempts at working towards completing the capstone, I experienced significant life events related to family losses and over commitments. Thus, this paper reflects and compares the advice from April with what I have learned and would suggest in the future. In April I advised myself to make a plan and manage my time when reading material for the research (Klinger, assignment 2017, April). Additionally, it cautioned on the element of self-care and commitments, which would have been wise to have read at the beginning of this