Merry Time

You know you go to college if...

1) Someone offers you dinner and you plan your whole week around it.
2) Facebook has consumed your life.
3) You spend more time procrastinating on youtube, mlia, fml, amirite, and other nonsense sites, than doing your homework.
4) You know what mlia, fml, and amirite mean.
5) Left overs are no longer gross.
6) You think any class before 10:00 A.M. is too early yet you woke up before 8:00 A.M. every day for high school.
7) You only have time for two of the three, studying, socializing, sleeping.
8) You get your daily news from Stephan Colbert or John Stewart.
9) Spring break has a whole new meaning.
10) You could barely write a 4 page essay in high school, now it's something you do in a few hours (usually the night before it's due).

Cinnamon Challenge

Here's a video of my room mate trying to swallow

A table spoon of cinnamon. Supposedly it's impossible

I'll let you decide for yourself.

college

College is not only time for higher education but it is also a time for social interaction, discovery. I'm a college freshman and have created this blog to talk about all the funny and interesting experiences college has to offer. I hope you enjoy! First of all I would like to post a paper I wrote for an English class that defines what I believe to be the value of a college education.

The Value of a College Education

Imagine the senior in high school, think of all the feelings he has as he tries to figure out what to do in life once high school is over, and it is time to become an adult. This is an exciting time for the high school student, so many decisions, and options; from going on to a four year university, or maybe just a junior college, or possibly even going straight into the work force. This is the time where a person makes that transition from adolescent to adult, as they learn what it means to make their own decisions, and to take responsibility for their own actions. During this time there is usually a lot of pressure from parents, teachers, and even peers to go on to college to seek that higher education, to get that job that will provide them with the means to be successful in this life. However, all that pressure is for good reason. Gaining that college degree is becoming more and more important in this competitive world we live. Not only will having a degree aid in finding financial success, but there are many other valuable benefits that come with going to college. Although finances may be the number one factor that plays a role in many peoples’ perception of the value of a college education, there are many other factors to consider, such as social, and community benefits as well.

Everyone knows that on average a person with a college degree makes more money per year than the high school graduate. At least that is what the high school senior is always told. So where is the evidence? Studies conducted in 1999 show that a person with only a high school diploma will make about 1.2 million dollars over a life span, where as a person with a bachelors degree will make 2.1 million dollars in their life (Day and Newburger, 2002). This is almost twice as much money in a life span for continuing ones education. Now imagine obtaining a masters degree or a professional degree. For a person with a masters degree they will make about 2.5 million dollars, and for the professional degree 4.4 million dollars (Day and Newburger, 2002). It’s clear that those with degrees, on average, make more than those without, but there are still exceptions.

Although having a college degree does help a person attain a higher paying job, it doesn’t mean a person can’t make the same salary, if not a bigger salary, than the person with the degree. Take my dad for example, he does not have his college degree, but is now working for a company making $80,000 plus a year. Which is quite a bit more than the average pay for a teacher with a teaching degree that makes on average $40,000 a year ("Teacher Salary - Average Teacher Salaries - PayScale."). It is important to note though, that my dad did not start out making that much money when he first started working for the company. He had been working within the company for more than 15 years; where he started out making around $30,000 a year. It took him 15 years to work his way up to the salary he is now receiving. Also, there are ways that the teacher is able to contribute to society that my dad cannot. The teacher is able to provide students with knowledge, and the basic skills it takes to get a job in this life. My father would not have the job he has without the basic reading, writing, and mathematic skills learned in high school. So even though some are able to make more money without a college degree it does not always mean they are able to give back to society in certain ways those with degrees can.

So what are the reasons people give for not going to college? The number one answer to that question is that they can’t afford it. This really should not be an excuse. Yes college is expensive, and the rate of tuition is ever increasing, but there are a number of options a person can take to be able to afford college. There are many junior, and community colleges nationwide that offer college courses at a much lower rate per semester than most of the big universities. Also, there are hundreds of scholarships, and government financial aid programs out there that will aid in the cost of going to school. All it takes to get these scholarships, and grants is a little time and effort. It cannot be said that just because a person applies for a scholarship they will get it, but it will never hurt to try. There is a scholarship out there for everyone. Not all require that a person has a 4.0 GPA. One such scholarship is the Duck Brand Duct Tape “Stuck at Prom” contest. For this scholarship a couple must make their prom attire and accessories out of duct tape, take a picture and send it to the committee. Where it is then judged, and the winner receives a $3,000 scholarship (Home of Duck brand Duct Tape's "Stuck at Prom" Scholarship Contest). This scholarship has nothing to do with a student’s academic record. Simply put, college can be made affordable, it is just going to require some effort on the student’s part to enter the contests, and fill out applications. It can not be said that a person will automatically get money for school, by filling out scholarship applications, but considering how much money is given out each year to students for school, with enough effort a student that really works at it is bound to get some kind of financial aid. It is out there it is just a matter of finding it. Although it seems obvious that getting a college degree is valuable for providing a person with economic success, that is not all college has to offer.

In addition to helping financially, the college experience helps build a person’s social skills, and opens them up to a new social network, where they are able to meet many new people, and establish lifelong friendships. There are countless times during a person’s college career that they will get the opportunity to meet new people. From the many different classes a student will take to the number of social events that will take place; opportunity to meet new people will arise with every semester. The number of people the college student will meet and interact with during each semester will teach them how to interact with people. They will learn a number of important social skills, especially when they are paired up with people for projects that they don’t exactly get along with. Although the things learned in the class room are important, having social skills to go along with the knowledge gained in the class room is vital. By learning how to deal with others that do not exactly agree with our own lifestyle while at college, prepares us for the real world, where we will have to deal with a number of different people to conduct business. Communication skills are essential to being successful in life, and college is a great place to learn those skills. Furthermore, many friendships will be established while attending college. With the number of people attending college there is a social group for everyone. The social benefit is just one of the bonuses gained from college besides obtaining more money; there are also community benefits as well.

By obtaining a college degree a person will be more likely to contribute to a community in a positive way. A report done by the Carnegie Foundation says that students that obtain a post secondary education are more open minded, more cultured, more rational, and more consistent (Porter). These values learned while in college will allow a person to make good decisions for the community in which they live. By being open minded, and more cultured, there will be less hate for one another out of ignorance, because there will be understanding among people. With less hate and more understanding communities will thrive as people are able to focus on important issues. Not only will a person be able to contribute to a community by being more open minded, but they will be better suited to set up charities, and non-profit organizations as well.

Companies are more likely to give grants to someone who is qualified with a degree, than they are to just any ole average Joe. It is hardly imaginable that money would be donated to someone without a medical degree of some sort, to set up an organization to help fight cancer, or to a person without a teaching degree to set up an organization to help teach less able students. By having a degree, a person is able to get the training necessary to set up organizations that will help benefit society. Take the organization Big Brothers Big Sisters for example, Karen Mathis is the current president and CEO. She got the job after practicing law for 34 years. She would not be in that position today if it had not been for the experience she gained as a lawyer, a profession she obtained by graduating from the University of Colorado Law School.

Furthermore, while in college a person learns a set of critical thinking skills that are important when deciding on how to vote on important issues. The time spent earning a degree is a time where a person learns how to analyze claims, and find the true value of something, as they develop critical thinking skills. Take this paper for example; the purpose of this paper is to teach the students how to recognize the value of something; in this case it is a college education. While learning how to write this paper, the students were taught how to read through an essay and pick out the important relevant facts. They were taught how to look at a claim a person is making, and deconstruct it to see if the claims that person is making are of any value to the topic being discussed. I like to think of it as learning how to cut through the bias to find facts. This is a very good skill to have when elections start to roll around. By having this skill a person is able to look at a candidate, see what they have to say, and then analyze how beneficial their ideas will be to society.

While looking at the value of a college education it is obvious there are financial benefits, but also to go along with that fat pay check come social, and community benefits as well. Socially, the college student is thrown into an atmosphere where they are able to meet many new people, make many new friends, and learn how to interact with many different types of personalities. The college graduate will be a benefit to their community as they use their critical thinking skills gained while earning their degree to make good decisions. For any of those out there thinking a college education is not all that important think again, and make sure to look at all the other benefits that play a role besides just the financial aspect.

Works Cited

Day, J.C., & Newburger, E.C. (2002). The Big Payoff: Educational Attainment and Synthetic Estimates of Work-Life Earnings. (Current Population Reports, Special Studies, P23-210). Washington, DC: Commerce Dept., Economics and Statistics Administration, Census Bureau. [On-Line]. Available: http://www.census.gov/prod/2002pubs/p23-210.pdf

"Executive Team." Volunteering - Volunteer work and volunteer programs with Big Brothers Big Sisters. Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, 2008. Web. 25 Oct. 2009. http://www.bbbs.org/site/c.diJKKYPLJvH/b.1539789/k.A1E9/Executive_Team. htm.

Home of Duck brand Duct Tape's "Stuck at Prom" Scholarship Contest. Henkel Corporation, 2009. Web. 21 Oct. 2009. http://www.stuckatprom.com/contests/prom/rules.asp.

Porter, Kathleen. "The Value of a College Degree. ERIC Digest." ERICDigests.Org - Providing full-text access to ERIC Digests. ERIC, 2002. Web. 14 Oct. 2009. http://www.ericdigests.org/2003-3/value.htm.

"Teacher Salary - Average Teacher Salaries - PayScale." PayScale - Salary Comparison, Salary Survey, Wages. PayScale, Inc, 2000-2009. Web. 19 Oct. 2009. http://www.payscale.com/research/US/All_K-12_Teachers/Salary.