Response to Class
Today in class we spent over an hour discussing simple
questions that can only be answered with complex opinions. Two simple questions
were asked, “should everyone go to college?” and “is there an equal and open
opportunity to go to college?”. These questions facilitated some very thought
provoking discussions and ultimately allowed us to see our fellow classmates view
points on this these topics.
I don’t believe that everybody should go to college. There
is no sense in spending thousands of dollars if you don’t have the aspirations
or desire to achieve anything in life. Some people are perfectly content
working an entry level job with mediocre pay. If everyone went to college then
the lower level jobs would not be easily filled. One point that was made during
the discussion was that of “Academic Inflation” and that if everyone went to
college and was able to graduate, that the value of having a degree would
decrease. In the latter half of the 1990’s and early 2000’s a Bachelor’s degree
was enough for you to make it pretty far up the corporate ladder. In the 1970’s
and 80’s you didn’t even need a degree to become a chief executive. As long as
you were able to prove that you were the best for the job, then you were
awarded it.
We discussed that if you were going to go into law or
medical fields than you needed to go to grad school. However, if you were planning
on going in to business than getting your MBA wasn’t always a necessity. If you
are on track to become a CFO or CEO than yes you will need to get an MBA in
order to effectively learn how to run a company. Otherwise the company in which
you work for will allot the time to train you in their ways and their business
model. The things you learn in grad school will most likely never be used
outside of the class you needed them for.
We then deviated towards the second question. I believe that
there is an equal and open opportunity for everyone to go to college. There isn’t a law that says certain people aren’t
allowed to go to college. Everyone can go to school, no if and’s or but’s. Some
classmates brought up the fact that not everyone can pay for school. Financial
assistance is an amazing yet, one of the most detrimental government programs.
It offers grants, and loans for student students to be able to attend college
and not worry about how they are going to pay for it until after they graduate.
This is a great thing unless you are a student that doesn’t deserve it. It is
very easy to qualify for financial aid. As long as your parent’s make less than
$80,000 combined household income you are usually awarded grants and federal
aid, regardless of your GPA or community involvement. I believe the government
needs to have more strict qualifications to obtain financial assistance.
Overall it was a very thought provoking and beneficial
discussion that we had. I hope that we can continue conversations like this
throughout the semester.
I agree with you for the most of what you said, except for the part about grad school. I think people do learn things they will need in business in grad school or else no one would go. My sister went to grad school for psychology and would not have the job she has now if she hadn't. She says she would have nowhere near the knowledge for some of the kids she works with if it wasn't for grad school.
ReplyDeleteI was in your group for this very discussion but I was going to comment on your last statement about how we, as a class, should continue having discussions like we had with this one. I totally agree because I think, as a student, that it helps us expand our minds and teaches us to respond to other people's opinions. Learning from discussion is much more beneficial to me than learning from a lecture.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your point that not everyone should go to college. I happen to feel that "qualified" people should go to college. Defining "qualified" is difficult, but, like you, I do believe that motivation is one thing that definitely makes someone qualified for college. You can have all the resources available out there and still not be motivated to make something of yourself through the use of higher education. Do you think that these unmotivated people are simply used to the easy life and therefore think that education is unnecessary to maintaining that comfortable existence? Or do you think that maybe they need a different kind of motivation, like a more interesting field of study, to drive them? Is it even possible to motivate some people, or are some simply lazy by nature?
ReplyDelete