Academic Essay III:Revision-College:Is it really worth it?

College: Is it really worth it?

            From a very young age, we are indoctrinated into the belief that in order to become successful, one must do well in grade school, specifically so that one can advance onward to college. But what is so great about college? It is the enormous amount of debt that a large majority of people seem to acquire? Of course not, but according to the American Student Assistance organization nearly 60% of American students go into debt in some way, shape, or form. (1) Considering that over half of the student body is willing to go into financial hardship so that they can obtain a college degree, there must be some sort of recipe to success that comes with it.

            Why do we go to college in the first place? For starters, with it comes the ability to do specific careers that cannot be obtained through any other mean, besides college itself. Some of these jobs include things such as a doctor, lawyer, or other high-paying opportunities. These careers often offer a security blanket of a stable salary, along with other great benefits. However, not all college jobs are as secure as others and there are some who do not even receive a job after graduation from their chosen university.     

That being said, why do people take the risk with their financial life and join a university when they are not always guaranteed a job after they have received their degree? According to a recent study done by the Huffington Post, nearly half of recently graduated college students are not able to find full-time jobs. There are examples everywhere of this growing dilemma take Serena Whitecotten, a recent graduate from the California State University where she majored in communications but has yet to find a single job even after a countless number of job interviews. She was quoted saying, “I was just embarrassed,” she continued on, “The worst thing is having to explain why I’m in Burbank and why I don’t have a job and why I’m at the bank at 1 in the afternoon.” (2) One of the problems with this story is not just this story, it’s so many other stories almost identical to it and the worst part is it is growing more by the day. The shortage of jobs seems to be rising everywhere and the pool of opportunity is shrinking.

            So why do we have to pay such astronomically large tuitions prices when in high school it was virtually free? Originally, students did not have to pay near as much, the state helped cover the cost of tuition according to the New York Times, lately an overwhelming majority of students have had no choice but to pay for somewhere around half of their tuition, with no real guarantee that they will ever find a full-time job. In order for the state to even pay half of a student’s tuition, taxes, along with other ways, are being forced upon the citizens, but that in turn, makes it harder for those who do not have a steady salary and cannot afford higher taxation.(3)

This complex college webbing has been causing problems in numerous spots. The way this works, for example, is you have a student, who does average academically in high school and does not participate in sporting events or extracurricular activities, and does not apply for any sort of scholarship but receives a small portion of financial aid from the government. He then graduates from high school and moves onto college, where he spends 4 years accumulating debt even after the help from the government. After he graduates from college, he then cannot find a job anywhere because hiring more employees is becoming more limited as the state of the economy declines. He then is left with multiple student loans and no way of earning the money to pay them off, on top of that, you must put into consideration that he has the cost of everyday expenses and his price of living, that is assuming he is not still living with his parents, continuing from that, he also has to worry about the large taxation from the state government to help pay for students just like him. Meanwhile, his debt continues to build up, day after day, and he has no choice but to take out another loan.

             As you can see, debt is something very common for students alike so what is being done in order to stop this growing trend? President Obama was quoted saying, “in the United States of America, no one should go broke because they chose to go to college.” So what is our government doing in order to cut down the price of student loans? In an official response to the Forgive Student Loan Debt to Stimulate the Economy and Usher in a New Era of Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Prosperity program, the White House wrote saying, “We agree that reducing the burden of student loans is an effective way to stimulate the economy and save tax payer dollars..”(4)

With that response, the White House mentioned things that had been put in place to help cut down the general cost for students and tax payers nationwide, such as the ability to consolidate their loans from the Direct Loan and the Federal Family Education Loan, and the Income Based Repayment Policy, both of which have helped but neither have fixed the problem with higher education. (4)

            The positive standpoint is that the government is aware of the problem and are taking steps in order to keep America a competitive nation, the response from the White House summarized it very well when they said, “If we want to remain competitive as a nation, we must continue to create ways for all Americans to afford higher education…And by continuing to raise your voices and call for change, you will help to open the doors of higher education to all Americans.”(4) The college debt issue is not just an academic schooling problem, it is a problem for the entire economic system that has been slowly creeping its way through the wallets of every tax payer in the country.

 Works cited

(1)-“Student Loan Debt Statistics.” – American Student Assistance. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 May 2014.

(2)-Kavoussi, Bonnie. “Half Of Recent College Graduates Lack Full-Time Job, Study Says.” The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 10 May 2012. Web. 07 May 2014.

 (3)- “.” . N.p., n.d. Web. 7 May 2014. <http://www.nytimes.com/ref/college/collegespecial2/coll_aascu_povcohen.html&gt;.

(4)- “Taking Action to Reduce the Burden of Student Loan Debt.” We the People: Your Voice in Our Government. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 May 2014. <https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/response/taking-action-reduce-burden-student-loan-debt&gt;.

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Fast Food in Kentucky

Taylor Johnson, Kimberly Ndombasi, Vince Njoku, Brandi Thomas, Jordan White

English 131.01

Professor Lucas

2 April 2014

Fast Food in Kentucky

Character Guide

Michelle Obama: She is the first lady and the dean of student services at the University of Chicago. She is also the Vice President of community and external affairs for the University of Chicago Medical Center.

Susie Orbach: Chair of the Relational School in the United Kingdom, she has published many books on woman’s health and emotional well-being. She has worked exclusively as an author and therapist on weight issues.

Charlie Rawlins: A young man living in Manchester, Kentucky. Charlie weighed two-hundred fifty-one pounds and had to undergo knee surgeries from his weight. He managed to drop his weight down to one-hundred eighty-five pounds and works in a small physical therapy office in Clay County.

Carlin Robinson: She is the daughter of Scott Robinson and the younger sister of Britney Robinson. Although she is the youthful age of twelve and has a stellar academic record, she struggles with her physical body, weighing at least twenty pounds over the recommended nutritional guideline.

Scott Robinson: A coal miner raised in Manchester who is a single parent raising two daughters.

It is a fine Saturday afternoon in Manchester, Kentucky many people find themselves making their way to the local food court to encounter a plethora of motion by exuberant customers. Scott Robinson and his daughter Carlin can be seen down, engulfing on their juicy grease filled Big Macs. Susie Orbach, Michelle Obama, and Charlie Rawlins are approaching them ready to join for lunch. They already notice how Scott and his daughter are devouring the unhealthy food.

Scott Robinson: “Are you enjoying your food Carlin?”

Carlin Robinson: “Yeah dad thanks for buying it, it’s delish.”

SR: “I invited some friends to join us for lunch, they should be on their way.”

As they continue to eat their food, the guests arrive shortly after Carlin has finished her burger.

SR: “Michelle, Susie! Such a pleasure to have you guys here today. I would like you guys to meet my daughter Carlin… My apologies I didn’t seem to notice the young man behind you ladies. Nice to meet you my good man, I am Scott and you are?”

Charlie Rawlins: “It is a pleasure to be here sir. My name is Charlie Rawlins and I am simply here to assist these ladies with the intervention.”

C. Robinson: “Intervention? Dad, what exactly are they here for?”

C. Rawlins: “I’ve been in your shoes before while living in Manchester. The inadequate amount of resources we have here promotes obesity and lack of exercise. I realized that no one was going to listen to me (regarding how fast-food negatively can affect health). I started going in for the fruits, the asparagus, making my own salads. The kids around here, they’ll eat cornbread and taters for lunch. They’ll get a 20-piece chicken meal. It’s killing them.” (410)

C. Robinson: “Sometimes, I think they give us too much food.” (414)

C. Rawlins: “So when is the last time you all weighed yourselves?”

C. Robinson: “I don’t want to weigh myself.” (414)

SR: “Lord, I couldn’t tell you, two-seventy, two-ninety. I don’t remember the last time I weighed myself.” (415)

C. Robinson: “Sometimes you get picked on for your size.” (414)

Susie Orbach: Carlin, you are absolutely correct, society has a large influence on one’s appearance. “The message is loud and clear-the woman’s body is not her own.”(451)” Fat is a social disease.” (449)

Michelle Obama: “But it’s important to be clear that this issue isn’t about how our kids look. It’s not about that. It’s about how our kids feel. It’s about their health and the health of our nation and the health of our economy.” (420)

SO: “While this preoccupation with fat and food has become so common that we tend to take it for granted, being fat, and feeling fat and the compulsion to overeat are, in fact, serious, and painful experiences for woman involved” (448).

MO: “It’s about making those little changes that can really add-up simply things like taking the stairs instead of the elevator, walking instead of riding in a car or a bus, even something as simple as turning on the radio and dancing with your children in the middle of your living room for hours”(428).

SR: “I mean I don’t have any time to really exercise with the girls.” “There’s a basketball court out back of the house’ (409). I honestly feel ashamed “There are no full length mirrors in the front rooms of their home that might reveal an image of anyone” (415).

MO: You are just living by your means… “For many folks, those nutritious family meals are a thing of the past, because a lot of people today are living in communities without a single grocery store, so they have to take two, three buses, a taxi, walk for miles just to buy a head of lettuce for a salad or to get some fresh fruit for their kids” (423).

SR: “Truthfully, our family has been struggling; I hardly get hours at my main job which forced me to get another job, I hate this job more than anything. “Just started this last December.” “Trying to make an extra dollar”(415).

C. Robinson: It is a matter of motivation; neither I nor my sister feels comfortable discussing our weight or overeating. No woman is ever going to be completely satisfied with her size or shape. We always find ways to distinguish our imperfections.

SO: “A feminist perspective to the problem of woman’s compulsive eating is essential if we are to move on from ineffective blame the victim approach… feminism insists that those personal experiences derive from the social context into which female babies are born and within which they become adult woman”(449).

C. Rawlins: I have pretty much spent the entire conversation silent and analyzing each and everyone’s opinion. I hate to be critical but Scott you have to stop being an enabler. There are a plethora of inexpensive meals that can be made at home. I also believe that everyone needs to take responsibility for their actions. Let’s have a fresh start; I’m not saying immediate change will happen overnight but it takes time and patience.

Annotated Bibliography

For my annotated bibliography I chose to expand on chapter 6 from the book, “They Say, I Say”. From the very first article on page 179, from this chapter, it asks the question, “Are Colleges Worth the Price of Admission?”. It goes on to say, “Tuition charges at both public and private colleges have more than double-in real dollars-compared with a generation ago”. This is very true and due to the high prices, many students cannot afford to attend college or graduate in catastrophic debt. With the admission being such a prevalent problem, many are putting colleges across America to the test and contemplate if it is even worth going through all of the hassle that attending a college often ensues. This articles states the problem many students have with attending but continues on throughout pages 180-83 to list ideas on how we can solve this ever-increasing problem.

Next on page 222, still remaining in chapter 6, the question is posed, “Are Too Many People Going to College?” This article expands on that by bringing up scenarios along the line of America having too many doctors and not enough janitors. College is so emphasized in today’s society and because of that, people do not believe that they will be successful unless they hold a college degree in their hand. That being said, America needs to appreciate those who have a high school degree of knowledge and not look down upon them.  

Well hello there, my name is Taylor Johnson and I am the girl pictured on the left, I am an extrovert who loves to work out and dwell among friends. I am 17 years old and I am originally from Fort Myers, Florida but moved four years ago to Conover, North Carolina. I have never kept up with a blog before so we will see how well this goes…