Nicole Gerstenberger Nancy Elliot English 111 December 5th 2013 Big Choices in life Being in college courses

my senior year really challenges my abilities. I know that if I cannot handle them now, there is not even a question in my mind that I will struggle in actual college in the fall. Watching the students around me struggle as well, I sometimes wonder if college is the right place for everyone. Of all the students that apply to college, how many of them actually have the mental preparation to be successful students? Hundreds of thousands of students enter campus gates without a clue about the challenges that are awaiting them, or at least should be, awaiting them. A reality check is really what students need before thinking about college. College can be challenging and a combination of dedication and hard work. Experiencing college classes as a senior really has opened up my eyes to what is coming up next. No more late papers, no tardies, and no absences. Is college truly for everyone? W.J Reeves is an English professor at Brooklyn College, City University of New York. This college accepts all students that apply. Questions such as whether or not college is for everyone or whether college is the best path for all students crosses Reeves mind. He summarizes that not all students are going to be able to get into a high class college like Harvard, but both they and their parents believe that in order to succeed in this world students must go to college. The main goal of America today is to send everyone to college to get their degree and be able to work better paying jobs with the skills learned. Reeves states that in every state, mid- range colleges exist by some form of easy access, for access = numbers, and

low numbers = low funding, and really low numbers = no college. (Reeves) Key factors Reeves talks about when going to college are being there, being on time, cultural awareness, literacy skills, and diversity. Being there means participating in class activities and not having excuses. Reeves states it is hard to be a productive worker if one appears to be distracted by other things. He suggest the idea of Click and brick courses which means if one chooses to be absent then online classes are not going to be available . On time means papers are completed and ready to go. When students tell lies on why they are absent it is simply not acceptable, and when this action is repeated over and over again they just become second nature to you and you dont think anything of it. Cultural awareness involves change, and change is frightening. Reeves believes the biggest problem is when students refuse to read the texts assigned. Reading these texts may give students a better understanding or even a different perspective on Cultures. Students are afraid to express how they feel. Handbooks do have requirements but a lot of the students spend their time trying to get around them. Reeves says that his students want him to place notes up on the board. But the problem with that is only a majority of the students will copy them down and the rest just copy off of them. Many students choose not to read the texts assigned this leads to things such as cheating and shortcuts. Reeves believed that when students do things such as cheating or taking short cuts this becomes second nature to them. This is not how college was intended. Literacy should be taken seriously as well he believed that students should not be graduated if their writing is inefficient. Also students that do not speak English should have to when inside classrooms. Thomas Reeves is a U.S historian who has written thirteen books. Thomas Reeves stated We cannot educate those who do not want to be educated. Reeves explains that millions of dollars are being spent every year and the number of failures is still at the all-time high. Being in

a classroom with students that do not read, study, or think really lowers academic standards. Students are better off saving their money and going to a trade school where they can learn the skills they need and apply them in real life. Paul Attewell and David E. Lavin believe that college has been so called dumbed down because colleges have admitted people that do not meet the standards intellectually or their intelligence is just not there. Blaming disadvantaged students for educational change is unfair, says Paul and David. When colleges started increasing student applications and becoming more selective they demanded more intellectual standards from students. This had nothing to do with the quality of students. Many students in a community college do not realize that the remedial courses that they are taking do not count towards their degree. When students get educated of this the weaker ones tend to get bogged down, and end up taking many remedial courses and they do not even advance toward their degree, causing many to fail or just simply drop out. The terms College is for all is an understatement considering that most students that go to college will not benefit economically from it. They estimated that students who went to college and had a C or below high school average had more intellectual and social respects than the one that did go to college. If everyone went to college then we then wonder what would happen to those jobs like fast food, plumbing, or carpentry. Jay Mathews says when the day comes that we have more college students than we need we will see students competing to get into the best trade schools. But we have no need to worry about that since only about a third of adults have graduated from college and the economy appears to have room for many more to succeed and graduate. Mathew

says that students who did attend college had a lot more money than someone who didnt. They have a lot more options and choices open to them. So clearly there are many reasons on why college is not for everyone. The decision is for the students to decide. If you are going to only put forth minimal effort that college is probably not the best option. Going to college does not necessarily mean that there is going to be a better paying job when you are finished. Trade school students do not necessarily get a better education than someone who went to actual college either. Students that choose to go to a trade school vs. a University might have a cheaper expense and a better experience than you did at a university. Choices come with everyday life and you just have to figure out what suites your needs better. There is no wrong decision here, only the choice of not putting an effort out there to better yourself in the economy that we live in today.

References Attwell, Paul and David E. Lavin. Mass Higher Education and Its Critics. In passing the Torch. 2007 Russell Sage Foundation, 112 East 64th street, New York, NY 10021. Reprinted with permission. Mathews, Jay. Multiplying the Benefits of College for Everybody. The Washington Post, May 29th, 2007. Copyright 2007 Washington Post Writers Group. Used with Permission.

Reeves, Thomas. College Isnt for Everybody and Its a Scandal That We Think It Is. Thomas Reeves. Reprinted with permission. Reeves, W. College Isnt for everyone. USA Today Magazine, May 2003. Copyright by the society for the advancement of Education, Inc. Reprinted with permission.