Is College the Best Option?

Many people support the idea that college is one of the worst investments as the college degree has lost its value. Moreover, the opponents of college education believe that studying at college is directly associated with wasted time, unnecessary debts, lost income, depression, and, finally, lost opportunities. On the contrary, the opponents of college education emphasize that college education increases the chances of successful employment, well-paid job, and so-called preparation for tougher and more difficult job requirements. The given essay aims at determining and describing personal opinions and beliefs concerning the importance of college. In other words, the essay will try to estimate if college is the best option in human life.

To be honest, I fully agree with the point of view that college is the key to opportunities. In the article “Two Years Are Better than Four”, the author makes an attempt to emphasize the importance of community or, in other words, the community-based education.

Taking into account the main points of view of Addison, community education is extremely beneficial as it encompasses necessary occupations as well as approaches that will help students to earn a living and find their place in future. In addition, community education positively contributes to the future career choices. In my opinion, college experience is crucial because it ensures a chance to the students not to be afraid to begin. In other words, education is a so-called transition from childhood to adulthood. I fully agree with the author that education should be “proportional” to life.

In simple words, education should meet the hobbies as well as other needs and wants of students. As for me, to be educated does not necessarily mean to know the basics of quantum mechanics, mathematics, or the timeline of the presidential history of America. On the contrary, to be educated means to be balanced. College education plays an important role for every individual as it develops positive skills, strengthens many features of character, and positively contributes to accumulation of live experience. Even if the person does not plan to work as a physicist or psychologist in the future, it does not mean that those subjects are studied in vain.

Numerous subjects that are studied at college, including history, mathematics, languages, and philosophy, seem to be unnecessary at the initial stages of learning, but they contribute to the overall “cleverness” of people. It is rather important to note about the importance of community education. However, I believe that the main ideas and principles that were expressed by the author may be applied to the significance of college education in general.

At the same time, I would like to express the idea that college education should be more diversified or, in other words, “modernized”. I decided to use the term “modernized” not to discuss some equipment in college laboratories or repairs. On the contrary, I mean that the college curriculum should be more adapted to the “street smarts”. My position concerning the importance of college education has significantly strengthened.

Furthermore, now I am convinced even to the greater extent that college is one of the best investments and, at the same time, one of the most reliable options for every student that have finished school and hesitates to enter college in order to continue education. According to the main point of view, college education should be transformed in order to open “hidden intellectualism” or, in other words, “undeveloped potential” of smart street students.

Many people mistakenly believe that intelligence of students depends on so-called “intellectual subjects”. Otherwise, the researcher claims that only “serious” as well as academic texts about globalization, climate change, art, and medicine should be taught in colleges in order to educate learners. On the contrary, such common topics as fashion, music, and video games may be referred to as anti-intellectual. Moreover, only topics about French Revolution, books, and nuclear fission accelerate the process of intellectual development.

However, I do not support the author’s point of view since I believe that even magazines, journals, and some online articles about modern fashion trends, sports, and nature can increase the degree of intellectualism. For instance, the author of the article emphasized the idea that because he was a sport fan and was interested in reading weekly sport journals, including Sport and Sport Illustrated, he was forced to prove that he was smart and deserved a respectful future. As a result, college studying gave a chance for the author to understand that physical training is as important in modern life as verbal, i.e. intellectual training.

Having analyzed Graff’s article “Hidden Intellectualism”, I understood that college education is sometimes outdated. At present, I am a high-school student, but I know that even school curriculum is based on “intellectual subjects”. From personal school experience, I know that such topics as fashion, music, and sports are not discussed at school lessons. However, in my opinion, the “rudiments” of intellectual life are drastically different. Even such unpopular college topics that are not preferred at the curriculum as sport, cars, tourism, and fashion can teach students how to summarize or synthesize the main ideas of the article or book, develop critical thinking skills, and boost imagination and creativity. Discussions of these “unpopular college topics” also involve numerous intellectual operations.

In general, I am convinced that college curricula should be changed in order not to miss the opportunity to attract the attention of those “street intellects” that have enough skills, motivation, and enthusiasm to become college students, and, in such a way, to adapt their non intellectual interests, hobbies, preferences, and life choices to a certain intellectual level.

In addition, I absolutely agree with the assumptions of Charles Murray and Sanford Ungar about the importance of liberal education in college. For example, liberal education has the power to “cultivate” social human beings. In other words, it transforms students into “intellectual elite”. In such a way, the author stresses that more people should be motivated to attend colleges.

Despite the fact that the basics of liberal education can be provided either at elementary or middle school, college provides more profound knowledge. Murray is convinced that college education gives knowledge, experiences, and skills that should be acquired by people at the initial stages of their development in order to “fit to the norm of society”.

The researcher supports the basic idea that interaction of humans is impossible without core knowledge. In other words, full participation in different cultures is possible only if the person is able to interact with other members of the community. For example, if a person that lives in the US does not have the basic knowledge about Roosevelt, Wall Street, and the Statue of Liberty, the student will be deprived of opportunity to be deeply embedded in culture of the country as the level of literacy of that person is very low.

Furthermore, the knowledge of native country is incapable to turn a person into a social being because the core knowledge should be broad enough in order to transcend the border of one country. In my opinion, college education that involves liberal arts makes people culturally literate social beings that are adapted to cultural, ethnical, and religious diversities of countries. Besides, I absolutely support the viewpoint of Sanford Ungar that, despite the fact that some people prefer “career-based” education at college, liberal arts education teaches the basics of critical thinking as well as analytical reasoning skills. I support the idea that college education, especially liberal education, encourages students to be innovative, creative, and imaginative.

As a result, having analyzed the main theories of the researchers as well as my point of view, I would like to make a conclusion that college education drastically differs from primary as well as high school education. In general, college is a good choice or, in other words, investment as it influences the transition process from childhood into adulthood. Moreover, liberal education makes the core knowledge of people more profound. Finally, it should be stressed that college gives a chance for every motivated student to become a social being that possesses enough skills and experiences in order to cooperate and interact with other people. Thus, college is the best option as it is not only the place of learning but the home of light and liberty as well.

Emma Hope, writer and blogger at https://advanced-writer.com/