devino246
Official DIYGK Chem Nerd
[rant]I walk into English class last week to find the warmup question going something like this: After reading these two articles about college, do you think hard work can lead to success? Is the American Dream still possible?
My answer, of course, was generally, yes. My definition of success however, is entirely different than most people's.
So what is success? A high paying job? An executive career? Simply put- NO! Success is contentedness, plain and simple. If you're content with your place in life, you are SUCCESSFUL. There are far too many rich people in this world that aren't content, and far too many poor people who are contempt.
Now, onto the college subject. IMHO, the expectation of college attendance is partially to blame for this country's downfall. How many college graduates cant find jobs right now? TONS. Yet I havent even graduated high school and I've already got a job waiting for me! Far too many people now'a days refuse to get their hands dirty. Most people think hard work is sitting in an office all day pushing pencils. BS, you havent worked a day in your life until you've come home and collapsed on the couch from physical exhaustion.
The people who work hard build and fix this country's infrastructure- Mechanics, iron workers, ship builders, road workers, carpenters, stone masons, HVAC techs; the list is endless. Are these people stupid because they don't hold a college degree? NO, most of them have more brain power in their corpus callosum than a pencil pusher has in his entire brain.
My school system has made the fatal error of focusing on college bound students. They act like they want to help increase the 70% graduation rate, yet there are no programs to help. Build a tech center for the county schools. I guarantee the dropout rate will decrease by 5% or more. That's thousands of extra students who graduate. Not only that, now they've learned a trade in the process!
**Things to do, will finish this later**
[/rant]
My answer, of course, was generally, yes. My definition of success however, is entirely different than most people's.
So what is success? A high paying job? An executive career? Simply put- NO! Success is contentedness, plain and simple. If you're content with your place in life, you are SUCCESSFUL. There are far too many rich people in this world that aren't content, and far too many poor people who are contempt.
Now, onto the college subject. IMHO, the expectation of college attendance is partially to blame for this country's downfall. How many college graduates cant find jobs right now? TONS. Yet I havent even graduated high school and I've already got a job waiting for me! Far too many people now'a days refuse to get their hands dirty. Most people think hard work is sitting in an office all day pushing pencils. BS, you havent worked a day in your life until you've come home and collapsed on the couch from physical exhaustion.
The people who work hard build and fix this country's infrastructure- Mechanics, iron workers, ship builders, road workers, carpenters, stone masons, HVAC techs; the list is endless. Are these people stupid because they don't hold a college degree? NO, most of them have more brain power in their corpus callosum than a pencil pusher has in his entire brain.
My school system has made the fatal error of focusing on college bound students. They act like they want to help increase the 70% graduation rate, yet there are no programs to help. Build a tech center for the county schools. I guarantee the dropout rate will decrease by 5% or more. That's thousands of extra students who graduate. Not only that, now they've learned a trade in the process!
**Things to do, will finish this later**
[/rant]