I recently conducted an interview with my journalism teacher Mr. Lucadamo for our AS class. During our interview, Mr. Lucadamo, who is sixty-four years old, began talking about the difference between college mentality when he was a teenager to how it is now. He said, "I went to college thinking this is not to get a job; this is to expand your mind. I ask kids today, 'Why do you want to go to college?' And what do you think their response is? To get a job."
It is believed that in order to get a "good" job today, you need a college degree. Employment rates are down because of the recession, which places more pressure on the new college generation. It has been shown that college enrollment is at a record high, with more than 70 percent of the 2009 high school graduating class enrolling in college in October.
Not only is there higher pressure to attend college, but there is also a greater pressure to attend a top college, especially at New Trier. Kids take the ACT multiple times in order to get their "perfect" score, even if each time they take the test they're only a point away. But here the mentality is that every point matters. Which is crazy. How can we expect to learn and enjoy school when it becomes a competition of who can get the highest score? We're competing, not learning. It's the same reason why kids load themselves up with AP classes and drown under the stress of them. They think it looks good for college, but are they really learning or just struggling to barely stay afloat? This pressure is unhealthy, and it causes unhealthy goals for kids these days.
It is believed that in order to get a "good" job today, you need a college degree. Employment rates are down because of the recession, which places more pressure on the new college generation. It has been shown that college enrollment is at a record high, with more than 70 percent of the 2009 high school graduating class enrolling in college in October.
Not only is there higher pressure to attend college, but there is also a greater pressure to attend a top college, especially at New Trier. Kids take the ACT multiple times in order to get their "perfect" score, even if each time they take the test they're only a point away. But here the mentality is that every point matters. Which is crazy. How can we expect to learn and enjoy school when it becomes a competition of who can get the highest score? We're competing, not learning. It's the same reason why kids load themselves up with AP classes and drown under the stress of them. They think it looks good for college, but are they really learning or just struggling to barely stay afloat? This pressure is unhealthy, and it causes unhealthy goals for kids these days.
I just noticed that all of your blog titles are questios...? Haha. I really like this post because mine from last week highlighted the stress we are under to get into Ive League schools and get a job, and the evidence you have presented supports that. It's sad to me that people no longer join clubs and do social service projects out of passion or the good of their hearts, but to put it on their resume. This does not describe every young person, but it does for many students at New Trier.
ReplyDeleteI agree with both of you guys on a lot of your points. However, I disagree with Hayley when you say that people only to extracurriculars to put them on their resume. Even though I think that is probably true for some people, I don't think that it is for most students. For example, I coach special olympics not because I want to get into college, but because I really enjoy working with the athletes. I definitely notice the fact that some colleges may look at my participation as a benefit, but that's just a side-effect of doing something I love.
ReplyDeleteJackie, I completely agree with you. In New Trier we have this mentality that college is the only sure way to success, and it simply is not. My mom always told me that nowadays a simple, broad college degree is nothing, you have to get a specific major, like engineering, for the degree to really help you get a job. In this mentality that college is only for getting a job, that's true. However, I don't believe it is nothing. You can learn so much from college, educationally and through experiences. I think once we (being aspiring college students) look at college as a learning experience, and not just another step in our career to success, is when we can really reap the benefits of college.
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