do you think college is nessecary? question for everyone, but especially grads who came from a poor family?

Question

i began a job at the end of the summer where everyone (though only 3 people) holds the opinion that higher education is useless and a waste of money, unless you know what you want to do. i don't know what i want to do, but i've always thought i would go to school. i like to learn. my boss says (paraphrasing) that people go to school, party, waste money, then are left with tons of loans to pay off. says it's a waste because everyone is going to college,just went because everyone else is, and the usually don't want to pursue what they majored in or dropped out. i will be paying for it almost completely alone, meaning if i were to go away to school my parents may be able to afford something like a $100/ mo allowance, but the rest is up to me. i feel discouraged by my coworkers, but maybe they're just mean. what do you think? is everyone just going to college because everyone else is, out of fear of joblessness?

Answer 1

college is not about learning a particular subject as much as it is about it is learning how to learn/study independently. So when you walk into a new job that you do not quickly grasp, college experience will help you to know how to study new material effectively and with enough passion to get the job done. It will teach you the basics, how to effectively communicate your ideas, verbally and orally.How to win people over to your train of thought, how to research a subject. You will be surprised how much you don't know that high school did not teach you, I'm not talking just in books, great for learning social skills, that you don't want to fail on in a job, working in a group, etc. Specialized training always helps too

Answer 2

I came from a working class family and went to school as a non-traditional student.

A college degree is necessary for particular lines of work such as the medical field. Also, there are particular jobs where the employer will want the piece of paper. But, on the other hand, when it comes to jobs, you would be surprised how many fairly decent ones there are out there that don't require a degree a four year degree, just some basic skills.

I can kind of disagree and agree with your co-workers. An education is never entirely useless. It can be a great personal growth experience and it will increase the number of jobs that you are qualified to apply for. But, there are many people out there who grow up being told that they will be expected to go to college, or who are feeling pressured from the outside in some way. It's possible that these people are wasting time and money. It can be wasteful if you are going to put yourself into heavy debt just for the sake of being there and nothing else.

Whether college is necessary or not will really depend on what your particular goals are. You may decide that it is, or you may decide that you can achieve your goals, or at least decide what those goals will be, by taking a few classes at a local school. You can always apply those to your degree should you decide that you want to go to school full time.

Answer 3

Your boss is just plain wrong. I am the first out of my entire family to ever earn a college degree and now the first one to pursue a masters and I plan being the first one who gets her phd as well! College makes it easier to switch jobs and you have more opportunties with a college degree. While being saddled with student loans is the downside to college, there are alternatives to keep the grants down, such as being a commuter student and going to a college in state or finding a program that is online, so you don't spend gas on driving back and forth. Another option is going to your local community college and getting a 2 year degree then transferring to a lost cost in state college. There are many people who are going to college now because there are more opportunities to go, with online learning, just about anyone can find a college he or she can be accepted to. The cynics at your job are probably bitter because they did not have the opportunity to go to college or they want to keep everyone down, I had friends like those when I went back to college and it was hard for me to ignore some of the same criticisms, but I just held in there and here I am now, an IT manager, with an 9 to 5 job, where I am off on the weekends.

Answer 4

Um.... I'm from a poor family and I'm going to college right now... I get a lot of scholarships because I'm from a poor family... Take a look into that. Also (I can't give you a site right now...) look up scholarships online, there should be some that apply to you... I'm going to do that right now. I think that scholarships will help a lot, but won't pay for your living fees (not much anyway...).
I live with my parents and go to the University here in town... So, I don't have too much for living fees.
Anyway, I feel like I'm just rambling. (Oh, as far as college being necessary, I think that these days it is... because any job that's going to pay you much is probably going to reuire a college degree... Just a thought.) I'm not going because I fear joblessness... I'm actually going so that, if anything happens to my husband (once I'm married...), I have something to fall back on. I'm also doing it because I enjoy studying. I HATE that there are reuired classes that I have to take before I can just go about having fun and taking the classes I want to. :)

Answer 5

depends what you want to do. If what you want to do requires a college education, then there is no way around it.

I agree, if somebody just goes to school because its what all their friends do and their parents pay for it or its easy for them to get student loans now and only worry about it later it is indeed a waste of time and money. There seem to be plenty of students who still have the school attitude I learn what I am forced to learn and I try to get out of work whenever I can. They clearly have some growing up to do before they ought to go to college.

But there are also students who understood that what you get out of college depends on the effort you put in and they work a lot and hard, and for them it is worth the money and they get a lot of new experiences (teachers obviously like students like that more and more interesting opportunities will come their way).
Generally you can get a higher salary with a college education (though not always). But it really depends what kind of work you do.
If you are not sure about it, you can always go to college later, there is no age limit. There are usually quite a number of mature students. They usually do clearly better because they are there because they want to and they know what they want.
If you just want to learn some new things you can probably take evening classes in community college for cheaper.
But unless you say what kind of job you want to do, it's hard to be more specific.
If you got good grades in school look for scholarships. You can also boost up your CV with things like volunteering and interships or work experience in an area which you want to study.
Hope those rambling thoughts help you a bit.

Answer 6

College isn't for everyone and it certainly isn't necessary to be successful. There are people who graduate from Ivy league schools and end up without jobs, simply because the economy is bad or there aren't any jobs in their fields. But, if you want to learn and you don't mind spending a ton of money on schooling, then go for it - but just know that having a degree doesn't mean that you will always have a job.

Answer 7

You should definitely go to college. Your co-workers may have wasted their time, but if you go and give it full effort, you will see results. As for your major, most will tell you that most students don't know their major until their juniors in college. Even then it could change. Please do not be discouraged. The higher incomes are achieved off your education more than experience these days. So I say go to school, and network with as many positive people as you can, and see where it takes you. Remember the saying "it's not what you know, but who you know". That phrase is still true on some incidents, so that's why it is so important to network positively.

Answer 8

I think that your co-workers/boss are a load of rubbish. I don't think it's a waste at all (unless you run up totally ridiculous bills). I am a first generation college student, and I've struggled financially in all the years prior to starting college.

Those that bash college are those that would never get in the front door because of their lack of knowledge and inept. I was dead scared to start college, but am having the time of my life. I know that it will benefit me loads more than if I didn't start up at all and tried to continue working in dead end low wage sucky jobs.

Answer 9

We already provide away unfastened college educations. Its referred to as scholarships and private charities. unfastened housing and foodstuff? No. Samantha writes: "If maximum persons votes in desire, then sure. Democracy isn't Conservatism. If the Democracy is in desire of determining to purchase education for some and not others, than that's what I help." according to risk what he had in ideas became what Prof. Alexander Frazer Tytler has written, that a democracy can't exist as an eternal type of government. it may in basic terms exist till the voters come across they'd vote themselves largesse out of the popular public treasury. From that 2d on maximum persons, he reported, continually vote for the candidate promising the main reward from the treasury with the consequence that democracy continually collpases over a unfastened financial coverage, continually to be accompanied via a dictatorship. regrettably, we gained't argue with the professor with the aid of fact whilst he wrote that we've been nonetheless colonials of great Britain and he became explaining what had destroyed the Athenian Republic greater desirable than 2000 years earlier. - Ronald Reagan "'A democracy will stay to tell the tale up till the time that voters come across that they'd vote themselves beneficiant presents from the popular public treasury" - Tytler

Answer 10

Hi there,
If you take a good Look at very successful people in life, you will most likely find out that they have followed their hearts desires. I f you really desire to study....then take the pains and please go t school. If you feel that you've got something else you wish to do with you life, no matter the limitations e.g finances...then just start now....it surely will grow with time. All big businesses today, all started small.
As a point of reference...take a look at Richard Branson's life history (The owner of virgin group of companies)
I know this might not put your heart at ease, just take it as a since advice from me.
best regards