Is College Worth It?

Liberal arts education encourages students to have a growth mindset. Education does not discriminate and I fully support everyone receiving one. I am a college student obtaining a writing degree, but I always said that you do not need to attend college to learn. However, I think my attending college has helped me to stay consistent with my career goals and I believe that if I were not in college I would probably lose focus. When I attended Augustana College, an old friend told me that his aunt graduated with a degree in psychology and his dad did not finish college, but that he made more money than her and she just stayed at home. I feel this is a worry every college student goes through. How embarrassing would it be to graduate and not have a job that relates to your degree? That is why when I attended North Central, I decided to get back to writing because it is what I love to do, and with the constant tasks to write, I feel that I have become consistent, I have written several articles that I am proud of and my top goal is to get a job as a staff writer. A liberal arts education should not be seen as a waste of time; people should not blame it if they do not end up where they desire to be. A liberal arts education enhances deep thinking, allows us to become more open-minded, and most importantly teaches us transferable skills that can be used in the jobs we apply for. Liberal arts is not only about helping us academically, but it can also help us in our personal lives when we are dealing with negative emotions,

What’s the Point of College by Johann N. Neem, teaches readers that a college education is not a way for us to get hired by job companies simply because we have a degree, but that a college education should also make us understand that we are not useless in society. For example, a student may graduate with a degree in writing, and many may tell her she’s wasting her time and that she will not make a lot of money. However, a degree in writing does not mean she should be limited to writing positions for jobs; writing can be seen as a transferable skill. You can have a writing degree and apply to be a paralegal, or a job recruiter. In his book, this is what Neem says: “If we had courage, we would acknowledge that education cannot be done by machines or be done too fast. We would argue that true learning depends on the cultivation. of personal relationships. We would conclude, based on the evidence, that the best way to improve student success is to put students on campuses that set high expectations and emphasize the liberal arts and sciences” (Neem 32). What Neem is explaining through this statement is that a true education is something that humans learn at their own pace, and that technology should be prioritized when wanting to learn. True education is learned through interaction with other human beings and also placing high expectations in liberal arts education can lead students to succeed in their academic and personal lives. Anyone who is considering attending college, needs to ask themselves why. There are students in college because it can help them get a better salary in their desired job, and some go because it can help them achieve their personal goals. How I came to study at North Central is that I looked up colleges in Illinois and North Central was one of them. I would have graduated in 2021, but when I attended my first college, National Louis University, I regretted it. I felt that my time was being wasted there because I was not learning anything that had to do with business. Then I went to Augustana College and I loved it, but due to some issues in my personal life, I got suspended. When I got accepted to North Central, I made the decision to get back into what I love doing, writing. One class I am taking is Playwriting. Before taking a course in playwriting, I was nervous and worried that I would not be able to move forward because I usually write poems, and articles that discuss different topics, and I never wrote a script and it sounded complicated. I was paranoid because I thought that I would not understand scriptwriting. I am quite proud of myself for being able to write a monologue. It reminded me that I am capable of doing different types of writing and encouraged me to look into other types of writing such as medical writing or grant writing. When we are entering something new, we are scared we will mess up. In a liberal arts education, we can make mistakes, but those mistakes should not make us stop. A liberal arts education encourages students to consider different pathways for their careers, it encourages students to keep learning even after graduation and getting a job. For me, even though I will get a degree in writing, there is still so much more for me to learn. However, what I learned at North Central College is something I am taking with me and not letting it go to waste. I no longer care what other people say to me, telling me that I will not make a lot of money. While I do care about having an excellent income since I am a mother, I also want to be happy in my career and I want to demonstrate to my daughter in the future that her mental health matters more. I do not want her to go into a career that will make her rich but at the same time make her feel unhappy or dissatisfied. I was once told by my high school teacher that as long as we have passion and ambition in what we do, we will become successful without a doubt. This is something that stuck with me and I know that I am completely devoted to becoming a writer because of the fact that there are moments where I get frustrated when I am in the process of writing. Just because we love what we do it does not mean we cannot be annoyed. I sometimes have trouble with making a point in my writing or making my writing sound more effective, but those things do not kill my love for writing. I hope students understand that it is completely okay to be annoyed with their careers or job sometimes. I am beyond grateful with the classes I am taking because I believe that without college, I would slack off and not stay fully focused. My Multimedia Authoring course is requiring me to reach out to organizations to write content for them; and I am excited to do this because I want to see what I can accomplish and this task is something I can talk about if I ever apply for jobs that require me to post on social media.

The article, The Intrinsic Value of the Liberal Arts: Cicero’s Example, by Kate Wintrol, talks about the Roman writer, Cicero, who wrote about education and demonstrated that a liberal arts education is not only about helping students get their desired job, but that it is also about helping you with your mental health, it is about helping you moving forward in life when you are in a bad place. “Because he had an extensive liberal arts education, Cicero had the ability to create a rich interior life and could draw on this source in his time of turmoil: "You would not believe how much I am writing, even at night, since I get no sleep" The period after Tullia's death became the most productive period in Cicero's life. By the end of 44 BCE, he had completed Academica, De finibus, Tusculanae disputationes, De divination, De senectute, De amicita, De fato, De officis and Paradoxa Stoicorum. Many of these works as well as the forensic orations would become fundamental to the new Renaissance curriculum. Cicero's letters discussed building a monument in honor of Tullia, and, while no physical structure was ever erected, his influential writings served, in effect, as an extraordinary monument to Tullia” (Wintrol 132). This quote helps readers understand that an education in liberal arts can help them to not only find jobs, but also help them with finding peace in their lives. Cicero’s constant writing is what helped him to deal with the death of his daughter in a healthy way. When I was accused of a crime I never did, I was tempted to start drama on my social media. I was so angry that everyone pointed fingers at me because I was an easy target. Instead, I turned to writing, I wrote an article about how being related is no excuse for people to tolerate disrespect. I wrote poems that allowed me to freely express my pain. If I had decided to instead fight back with everyone who accused me, I would not have healed and writing has allowed me to let go of the hurt I had to endure. Cicero teaches us that a liberal arts education prevents us from having a fixed mindset and that finding solutions through education can create a positive impact in our lives.

In the article, Critical Thinking and the Liberal Arts, Author Jeffrey Scheuer argues that while STEM fields are essential for society, we need to acknowledge that a liberal arts education is also needed because it helps us to think more and it helps us to have communication skills which are crucial for jobs and for society. Liberal arts education helps us to do significant things in life and allows us to become more aware of things. Scheuer wants people to realize that liberal arts education can make us become better thinkers, better writers, better listeners, and make us be more open-minded and all these skills are necessary to be able to interact with others in a healthy and mature way.

College is optional for everyone. People have different lives and they have different aspirations; therefore they must ask themselves how college can still be beneficial for them. Going to college has not only helped me to learn about different genres of writing. It has also helped me to become more open minded to opportunities outside of the writing field; it has helped me to understand that my degree will not go to waste. While college is essential for future opportunities, we must remember to not rely only on our degrees. We need to learn networking as well, we need to demonstrate transferable skills, and we need to realize that there are different ways to achieve our personal goals apart from just having a Bachelor’s or Master’s.