assignment 4 final

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.