...first year in college, I did not foresee the barriers I would face being a first-generation Latina college student and not having a family member to ask for guidance in navigating my college education. Before attending college, I was aware that once I graduated from high school I would need to work and help my family financially because the occupation that my father held, selling ice cream in a truck, was not stable. Growing up in East Los Angeles and attending James A. Garfield High School, an overcrowded and poorly funded school, made it difficult to navigate my education. My knowledge about higher education was limited by the minimal interactions I had with counselors at my high...
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...about whether schools should focus more on preparing students for specific careers and vocations and less on subjects such as literature, art and history. Although literature, art and history are important subjects that should be taught, I think students benefit more by taking classes that will prepare them for life. These classes include business, computer technology and automobile mechanics. In the next few paragraphs I will elaborate on why I believe these kinds of classes are more beneficial to students and society. Being taught vocational and career classes helps a student learn a trade. I believe students are better prepared for the workforce if they have already been taught basic skills for a particular field of study. They are more confident in searching for employment that gives them the opportunity to use the skills they have already learned. Many schools allow students to take vocational classes at nearby colleges, and provide transportation to and from the facility. This opportunity provides valuable training and oftentimes gives students college credit towards a field of study they are interested in. These vocational classes allow the student to make the most of their high school years, thereby giving them a head start, and making them more successful in their choice of careers. Finally, not all students do well in a classroom that teaches academic subjects that do not interest them. Offering classes that provide students an opportunity to use skills they will...
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...lack of understanding among students and parents about Pre AP classes and General Biology classes. Many parents are not enrolling their children in Pre AP because they are told the class is fast pace, rigor and only for top students in the school. This leads to: overcrowding of General Biology classes, mixture of slow and fast pace learners and many discipline problems. This memo is a request to change the name of the biology classes to Pre AP- 04, Pre AP- 03 and Pre AP - 02 Biology. There are several reasons why General Biology should be eliminated. Students think they have to work less, the work is less challenging than Pre AP, the class is an easy “A”, less is expected of them and they will be graded on a curve. These students are sleeping through their education. If we required more of them, we will get more. If the name sound more challenging, I believe they would work harder. Jacobs (2004) states that teachers and administrators must consider “… the empty chair …” which represents all students in a given school or district, and “… all work must focus on Johnny, and all comments and questions are welcomed as long as they are in his best interest” (p. 2). Second, if it is in the students’ best interest to change, modify, stop, start, or maintain curriculum practices, programs, and/or other related issues, there must be data-based proof to do so (Jacobs, 2002). All teachers should differentiate instructions to meet the needs of all students in every class, not just...
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...many and often valid reasons cited as to the benefits of obtaining a college degree, there is one fact that remains to be stated: the promises of higher education are not always what they are touted to be. In this section we will discuss the less often discussed or considered facts that reveal the negatives of pursuing a college degree. The popular notion that obtaining a college degree will elevate one’s overall skill set and knowledge in general can be deceiving. A recent study conducted in 2011 concluded that half of all college students will not see any improvements in their abilities to solve problems, write and reason throughout their first two years of college and more than a third will see absolutely no improvement in these areas their entire academic career. [http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/01/18/106949_study-many-college-students-not.html?rh=1] Although the academic environment can foster the awareness and refinement of such skills, one must vigorously engage themselves in the knowledge and use of these skills to actually develop them. However, the reality is that many students and universities alike view higher education as a necessary commodity in today’s economy and therefore in exchange for dollars students who make the grade can obtain a degree. This paradigm shift is at the heart of the problem cited in the aforementioned study. Just because you subscribed to the notion of attending college and obtaining a degree doesn’t guarantee that you’ll obtain or develop...
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...Readiness for College Students need to be ready academically before entering college. The question arises are students prepared enough from high school before attending college. There are a lot of students that according to statistics are not ready for college classes. When a student enters college right out of high school the majority of the students have to take two or more remedial classes. Students are not able to take the needed college courses at the beginning due to having to take these remedial classes first. the student false confidence for college. the studentReadiness could mean many things when it comes to academics. Some things are student work ethics, or determination, parent or family resources, student personality or persistence. It is the responsibility of not only the student but as well as the school to prepare the student for college. A school’s testing procedure could be considered unethical especially if the school is more concerned with improving their scores which could be reported to the higher level. Test scores could be tweeted to make it appear more appealing on paper. In the long run, this drastically hurts the student’s readiness for college. Other unethical practices could be teachers not fully performing to the student’s individual ability. The teacher may not push the student as hard as necessary once the work is complete. This will further hinder the student by giving the student false confidence for college. All...
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...One of the most important things I learned from the reading involved education being used as a tool during the early 1900’s. College presidents wanted to keep their increased number of students before WWI because most of the men attending colleges had to report to military duty. After reporting a loss in enrollment, colleges wanted assistance from the federal government. The government decides on a training on college campuses. I agreed that our service men deserved adult and higher education for their service to the country. In the early 1920’s when the demand for college increased, it was good to see servicemen being invested in. After the mandatory draft that took place, many of the colleges changed the way they enrolled students. Since...
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...On top of exceptional students getting denied, less qualified students such as legacies, athletes, and minorities are being accepted into prestigious universities, contributing to the flawed system. Rather than admitting students based on their potential to succeed and personal attributes alone, universities are often admitting slightly inferior candidates simply because their parents attended the school or they want to increase their diversity population. In A is For Admission, Michele Hernandez mentions some of these discrepancies when explaining that legacies, students who have a parents that attended the university, have a forty percent acceptance rate into Dartmouth in comparison with the typical ten percent acceptance rate (183). Additionally, Hernandez describes athletes have a lower minimum GPA and ACT/SAT than the admitted class (172) and African Americans and Hispanics have a much higher acceptance rate whereas students from Asian descent have increased difficulty getting admitted into Ivy League schools (Hernandez 198)....
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...College is a big topic of discussion for me now that I am almost halfway through my senior year of high school. There have been recent debates about whether college tuition should be free or not. I realized that it would be better to pay for schooling on my own. I have looked at the community college price compared to prices at universities. I would much rather go to a community college especially because I’m not sure what I want to get into. Many of my classmates would probably say that free college sounds like a wonderful idea, while others don’t really think so. Some college graduates might have already paid off their own student loans or started paying them off. Why should others have to worry about paying more tax money for other people...
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...I am Nikita Ward and I am interested in college. I am a 17 year old girl; I am recently attending Greensboro High School which is a title one school. I am a senior in the graduating class of 2016. I have a 3.5 GPA; I love to help people out so I volunteer whenever I get a chance. I lost my mother to an unknown disease when I was in the eighth grade. Now my father is playing a major role in my sister and I lives. My sister is currently attending UWA Nursing program as a full time student. My father is a single parent and I will do all I can to make him proud. People have been saying I was not going to make it in life and I was not going to average to anything, but I am going to prove them wrong when I make it. My top reasons I want to go to college are to further my education, more job opportunities, and continue my family tradition....
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...James Marie Professor Baker English 101 28 February 2012 Knowledge is Power, Power is Success. How successful are you? When looking for a job in today’s world it is known that companies aren’t concerned with whether someone couldn’t attend college because they couldn’t pay for it. They only care about whether a degree is held or not. This is why being part of the lower class has been so difficult for students wanting to continue their education. Preparing for a successful future begins with a quality education. For many students, however, the quality of the available education is dependent on their financial circumstances. In order to ensure that all American citizens are as successful as they can be, access to quality education must be based on effort and commitment, not an individual’s ability to pay for it. Today most people would agree that education is the key to success. It is almost impossible to have a successful career without having an advanced education from a superior school. Businesses and companies depend consequently on what school someone graduated from and what degree they have, that it creates an unfair bias and almost makes it impossible for someone to compete for a job when they could not afford the same education. In today’s economy it is more challenging to acquire a successful career. Businesses have become further meticulous in their hiring processes and are not speculating towards undergraduates to employ. Businesses are looking for applicants...
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...In my college days, I was associated with Prayaas, a student’s initiative for teaching the under-privileged children of the nearby locality of our college and provide them a better education by providing them stationeries, books and tutoring them. To help with the financial requirement of the Prayaas, we collected newspapers, old books –copies from our batch mates, seniors, juniors in different hostels, which were later sold for making paper bags. We also sold Prayaas T-Shirts among our college mates so that we can generate funds for providing stationeries, books and copies to those children. And on weekend evening, we took out 1-2 hours of time to teach and guided the children. We team members had tough time initially convincing the guardian-parents of the children to make their children attend our classes. So we started with small number of children who were ready and seeing our dedication and sheer effort, other children also stated attending the sessions. because most of them had this notion that they have to pay for this tuition classes and they did not see any reason why they should send their wards to these session when they are already sending them schools. But we explained them that despite they are attending classes, these students must have some doubts, issues regarding their academics so that we can guide them. I would like to recall the college incident again when I was serving as the Joint-Treasurer of the Cultural Society of the college. The Cultural...
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...Personal Responsibility and College Success Not every college student has to have hours of study time to learn the course material to be successful. Attending class, paying attention to the lectures, reading assigned text, and dedicating quality study time are good practices so they do not get behind in school work. It’s the student’s personal responsibility to manage their time wisely. Personal responsibility means that they are accountable for their actions, accept whatever the consequences are, and that other people may be affected by their actions. If the student wants to be a successful in college, showing up to class on time every week, and paying attention to the lecture is the first step to gain success. Sit towards the front of the class, and sit up straight. These are good ways to stay alert and follow along with the instructor, receive the information they are giving. Reading the assigned texted is another way to obtain the information you are learning. Find a quiet place to read. The student might need to be well rested before picking up their textbook. Oftentimes, they may fall asleep once they start reading. If they have difficulty retaining information, they may want to read aloud, reread the statement, or imagine themselves in the situation. It is a good way to understand what it is they are reading. Good time management is essential to being a successful college student. For some students, that may mean having a to-do list, calendar, or planner. Sitting...
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...College vs. high school Education, October 16, 2014, Marie Samaan “I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.” Mark Twain. High school and College is just another part in everyone’s lives that they go through. Almost everyone goes through the two different worlds between high school and college. Most people strive themselves by achieving a form of someone education after high school. College education and high school education have a vast amount of differences between them. When looking at these two establishments of learning, there are many factors that differentiate high school and college. Therefore it is evident that the major differences between a high school education and college post secondary education consists of freedom, age and maturity level, and structure that is provided within these two institution’s of learning. When one attends college it is almost obvious that newfound freedom comes hand in hand with this education opposed to a high school education where one’s freedom is very limited. When attending high school one receives fair amount of discipline, which consists scheduled and structured times and due dates of classes, and preparing one for tests and projects. The students are expected to abide to a schedule that does not change throughout the year. This is the basic routine of high school students that everyday they are expected by teachers to have excellent attendance and that one will face discipline if the attendance isn’t met. When...
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...College offers many amazing opportunities to any student that is willing to take advantage of what it has to offer. Along with these new chances also comes some rather difficult obstacles that can be easily overcome with the help of a friend or the guidance of a leader. In most cases that leader is the person right down the hall, the Residence Assistant. Currently as a freshman, know from personal experience that college can be a very scary experience for many reasons. First of all there is a major shift from the home centered family lifestyle to dorm based communal living. This can pose a problem for new students because it takes quite a bit of adjusting to get used to their new surroundings and ways of living. There is also the challenge...
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...Clinton proposes to refinance debt for previous college students so that students will not have to pay as much, as well as to making in state tuition free for all undergraduate students (Clinton). This plan takes students towards the right direction in preparing for college and their futures because it allows students to not have as much of a barrier between them and their education, yet Clinton’s plan limits many undergrads that are preparing or want to move out of state for different opportunities, and even though she proposes to refinance students debt, the amount of debt students will still be in is horrendous and does not fix the problem of college tuition. In contrast to Clinton, under Sanders plan he would work to make all undergraduate college free in the U.S for in and out of state undergraduate students, in addition to relieving all of the debt for former college students (Sanders). This plan provides students with the opportunities to breaking down the barriers to attending college, because the financial limitations undergraduate students face will no longer be...
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