Having College Education from Socioeconomic Perspective

Most people, when asked about their goals for the future or where they see themselves in 5-10 years, will most likely say something along the lines of success in a job that they enjoy doing. My question for those people is what steps does one need to get there and is there more than one way to do it? Some will say that no matter what path in life you are taking or think you might take college is a necessary evil to be successful in America. Others will say college is a scam that gives you a degree however you’re buried in debt, which places you lower on the ladder to success. I will provide various viewpoints in order for you to get a clear picture of both concepts/ideas. When looking at college under the lens of socioeconomics and focusing on the success aspect of it, we can conclude that the two most common options after graduating high school are college or joining the workforce right away. Now, both choices have positive and negative factors that can sway an individual one way or another; this being the case, it doesn’t mean that one option is unquestionably the right or wrong choice.

Most people agree that to have any sort of career you do need some type of basic learning skills as well as people skills, determination, and resilience. Vijay K Sharma takes this idea a couple of steps further by writing a speech on the importance of college education and how attending college is the key to gaining/excelling at all of those skills. He discusses in his essay that there are 5 important ideas that help prove, in his eyes, that college is necessary for a successful career. They are as follows, “More job opportunities for college graduates, improvement in confidence and awareness, sense of responsibility in college, knowledge about various aspects of career and life, [and] improvement communication skills.” He goes more in-depth in regard to the idea that there are more job opportunities for college graduates because of how our government won’t allow you to work in certain fields (involving the government) without a particular level of education that is only obtainable through a college education. He goes on to say that while a degree will make that person eligible for the job position it will not guarantee that person the position; that there are other factors in play. He argues that college aids in helping elevate college kid’s confidence levels simply because of the amount of freedom that is given to you once you get there. He also states that in high school You had to do certain things in order to pass the class. The keyword is had, in college you're held responsible for your own work because teachers won't chase you down to get you to do your work anymore. He goes on to state that being in college helps increase your desire to be taught and be competing with numerous people who are all trying to figure out what they want to do. He emphasizes that this will be vital in the future when looking for work because of how easy it is to make connections in college. He concludes that not only is college beneficial education wise but also that simply being in that physical environment is extremely helpful as well for current reasons and for others further down the road. According to Vijay, “education is the most important thing in our life” frankly because of how much time we’ve already spent inside of it. We do spend a good portion of our lives being taught whether that be inside or outside a substantial education building, nonetheless, does this make education after high school crucial in assuring success after college?

Other people believe that college isn’t necessary to be successful but that an education of some sort is imperative for some type of success; Ryan Guina is one of these people. He insists that “As you try to chart your career path, it makes sense to stop and think about whether or not you are developing skills that others will pay for. Instead of just going to college because you “should,” consider what you’re accomplishing. In some cases, developing a skill set that others are willing to pay for doesn’t require a college degree.” After reading this several professions popped up in my head such as mechanics of any sort, as well as some government jobs, for instance, immigration/customs investigators. He emphasizes that the ratio for degrees that are high paying and for degrees that are low paying are off. There are many major/minors in the college world that there are candidly not any jobs in, which are mostly fine arts. The article goes on to say that it’s getting to be less and less about what level of education you have but more and more on who you know and how good you are at selling yourself and networking/making connections. It’s about going after you want and not making excuses for yourself; making your own path. He goes further into the point that some colleges have the tendency to create people who are so overly confident that they are a touch arrogant; which down the road when those people are out of college they come to the harsh realization that the real world is going to put them in their place rather quickly. He wraps it up by contradicting himself in a way and says that even though he personally wouldn’t and didn’t belong to a higher level of education most interviewers won’t give your resumé a second glance if they see you didn’t attend a college.

Personally, I have seen and heard many people who didn’t go to college bash, for lack of a better term, the people who decided to attend a secondary school. Their main reason was that the people who did, in fact, decide to go to college were spending too much time and money learning; when they could just not go to college and make money at a steady job right out of high school and not be stuck in debt. Currently being in college I understand both points and can empathize with each party and their beliefs. In truth, some days college can seem pointless in a way because so of how many people I know that don’t like what they’re doing but are stuck because that’s what they majored in and that’s just life. On the contrary to that though there are times where I believe that I am on the right path and college is exceedingly helpful in making me who I want to be, in the career I want to be in. The way that this specific economic issue is set up almost feels impossible to solve, however it is not as bad as it use to be and it is getting better as every day passes.