Kevin Lim
Assignment 4 Rough Draft
The
case against college
The general
argument that is made by Dale Stephens from his work, "The case against
college" is that college puts their students into major debt. More specifically he writes that college is a
very large investment that really doesn’t do much to make students successful
in life. In this passage he writes that
“There are a little over nineteen million students going to college in the
United State, each of whom are graduating with an average of $24,000 in debt,
according to the nonprofit Institute for College Access & Success.” In this passage he suggests that college
really isn't necessary for people to succeed and it really does have many
losses to the individual.
In conclusion dale
Stephens' belief is that college puts people into debt and it truly isn't
necessary in society. He is definitely
right that it does put some students into deep financial trouble but he is
wrong when he states that it is not necessary.
Also, the real problem lies not in in the college years of a student,
but the years before that, where children go through grade school. That is the time frame of when the creativity
of children is taking a turn for the worse.
More specifically I believe that it is almost impossible for someone to
succeed in society without college. For
example, most employers today look for at least a 4 year degree before hiring
anybody. Although Dale Stephens might
object that people need college, I maintain that it is definitely necessary in
society for people to succeed. Therefore
I conclude that Stephens does speak some truth in his argument but also I see
some flaws as well. I believe that until
“The case against college” gets more recognition; it is not truly possible for
anyone to succeed by following this method.
Often times when a
student graduates from college, they go through the same problems of debt. There are many exceptions to this but
unfortunately, this is the sad truth of it.
Dale Stephens states that college is the main cause of debt because of
student loans and that it really isn’t necessary for someone to succeed in
life. I agree with him to an
extent. I definitely see the possibility
of a graduate student to go into major debt because of college but I definitely
cannot see the possibility of a person succeeding in life and making a good
living without a four year degree at least!
Of course there are a few individuals who get very lucky like Bill Gates. He was able to create one of the largest
computer software companies, Microsoft, and he was a college dropout. Throughout 1995 to 2006 he was the wealthiest
man for his time. Another successful
individual is of course Steve
Jobs, the co-founder of apple. Jobs
went to college for one semester who quit before he went to work for “Atari and
then he worked for Pixar Animations before they merged with Disney.” These two are one of the handfuls of people
that were very lucky and were given the opportunity to be successful through
lucky life choices and business propositions.
This does not apply to the general public; the majority of us are unable
to get even the slightest opportunity to make a fraction of what these people
make. However, college gives us a chance
to be able to attain this, with a proper education. If we are able to do something extraordinary
that people would acknowledge then we could have a chance to be like Bill
Gates, Steve jobs, or Henry Ford.
Dale Stephens
makes a very valid argument; this is especially true on the fact that school
kills creativity. Stephens explains
tells us that there was an experiment that tested children about their
creativity. This test
concluded that after a few years of children being in the normal education
system, they were tested one more time to see what happened. Originally most of the children tested at a
very high level but after the education they received, only about half were
able to test at the same ability as they had before. Stephens states that college is the main
cause about this but I do not believe that this is true. I do not think that college is the main
source of this crisis because according to the tests, children would have lost
the creativity that they had in the beginning regardless because of the grade
level schooling that they have received since childhood.
Of course there
are many opinions about this topic, many might choose to go and believe in Dale
Stephens’ words or maybe students would just acquire an education by
traditional means like going to grade school then college. However if people can see both sides wouldn’t
that be ideal? It is definitely true
that college does cost a lot of money but what can most people do about
it? This traditional way of going to
school has been going on for many years and most graduates are able to pay off
the student loans that they have borrowed.
The problem is definitely on the solution of how to stop the educational
system of killing the creativity of the next generations to come. There could definitely be some sort of way to
increase the creativity of children and that is to stop the fear of
failing. According to the test that was
mentioned above, students lose their creativity because of them being rewarded
for following directions. This basically
sets up a standard that determines whether a person passes or fails. Children however should not have a fear of failing
because that will stop them from producing ideas in the first place. Coach Joe Newton of York
High School in Illinois says to not be” afraid to fail, and when you do? Keep
on trying” There is definitely a
solution to this problem, this is to help the children have high levels of
creativity which would then get them good grades in school which would finally
reward them with better job opportunities and better lifestyles
Even though it is
hard for us to help the older generation, it is still possible to educate the
younger generation so that they can keep their creativity at its peak. This however can be done with the help of
both the teachers and the parents of the teachers. Instead of classic lectures that teachers
usually give, discussions in circles are better for optimizing ideas. In a lecture the way to teach a student is
just by telling them the information and material, but did the students really
get all the information? However in a discussion, teachers can ask questions on
how to apply the knowledge that they have just learned. They can also assess
the students on the new information and make sure that they understand the
material. Parents are also able to do
something for their children as well; this would definitely have to start off
at a young age though.
Parents are able
to nurture their children from birth, but sometimes there are better ways for
them to maximize their creativity.
Simple things like drawing and painting are able to make a child think
of ideas. However some other things are
like just simply exposing children to other different types of cultures and
environments. This would allow them to
experience difference types of thinking’s and mindsets of others and it gives
them more ways to deal with a certain problem. Children should also be given
simple problems like being asked a question about something he or she saw
throughout the day. For example if a
child were to say he saw a squirrel, the parent would ask what it was doing. Or
why do you think it was running around like that? This would allow the child to
think past the possibilities and to make up some ideas that seem probable to
them. However this also needs the
participation of the parents because when they get the answer from the child,
be patient with judgments. Children are
afraid of failure and when they see a possible negative reaction to their ideas
then they would stop thinking of the possibilities. One example of this is the school system
which is really a straightforward way of teaching. When having the child do something it is
better for the parent to remind the child of the fun of the process like
coloring to make a beautiful picture rather than to think of the finishing
product. A final concept that can
decrease the creativity in a child is the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic
motivation. When a child does
something, it is better for them to have intrinsic motivation because that is
when they are able to do their best work.
This is different than extrinsic because they are not as motivated to do
as well because there is no self-interest or satisfaction in it. This definitely helps students when they are
young children till high school but what would happen in college?
Colleges today all
go through the same process of teaching; in a lecture hall with many
students. This however does not get the
whole point across for the students that want to learn. As previously stated before, discussions are
better teaching strategies rather than having many students in a large lecture
hall. This does not allow the students
to completely absorb the information or even to apply it to questions on tests
or essays that are assigned. However
this can definitely be changed if classes are on a more discussion based class
where students can gain more one on one attention. This would allow them to be able to make do
with the information being provided and help them really understand what is
going on in their classes.
Clearly children
do lose their creativity by going through the school system, but with the help
of teachers and parents, it is possible for that to change. Parents can help their children question the
things around them and that would help them expand their ideas. Definitely Dale Stephens is right about
college putting students into major debt but it is not true that it would be
hard to pay off or that it could be a major problem. If students would honestly learn and work
hard in school they will be able to pay off their loans in a reasonable amount
of time because of the good job that they have acquired due to them earning a
degree.
