What is college preparing us

for?

Ryan Dohn

Palcho English 101

College is not just preparing us for one single

thing, it is a way for us to grow and prepare for a vast

variety of things. It is A major step in most peoples

lives these days that is very significant. You do not go

to college just to get training for your work life in

the future. When you go to college you are making a big

step in life that helps you learn to be more responsible

and is a step into adulthood. When you are in high

school you do not have the same pressure and

responsibility as you do when you are in college. You

have to be able to experience many different things when

you go to college. If you are only going to college to

prepare yourself for your job, you are thinking right

but need to learn to experience more. When you go to

college you have to be able to meet new people, and be

able to display that you can distribute your time to do

work and have fun. College is a chance for you to live

away from your parents and be your own boss. You will be

able to make your own decisions, which will all prepare

you for life after college. I think that going to

college does not only prepare you for work after school,

but also helps you prepare for life on your own. College

has many functions for students who are attending them,

which all prepare them for the world of work.

How can you disagree with someone that says the

primary function of college is to prepare you for the

working world. When you go to college you have to pick a

specific major that you will study while in school. This

will be your job that you will want to pursue after you

finish with your schooling. That is why it is such a

broad statement to say that the whole purpose of going

to school is to prepare yourself for the world of work.

That is the very thing that colleges and universities

are here for. You also learn many things while in your

college experience that will also prepare you for the

working world. That is why I do not agree completely

with the statement that the primary function of

colleges is to prepare you for the working world. You

learn so much more when you attend college that will

also help you in your life after school.

When attending college you learn very important

skills that will help you throughout your life and in

the world of work. When you attend college you are

trying to become a well rounded student for life after

school. You learn many skills that will help you on your

way in life. You learn how to communicate with other

people that you would not usually talk to in normal

life. You are forced to make friends with people that

you live with and around. It is a very important skill

that will help you be able to communicate with people

you have to work with. Communication skills are a very

big factor in your entire life. If you are not capable

of communicating with other people you will get no where

in life. That is one thing that I think you learn when

you are attending a college that is a very important

skill that you will use in your daily life as long as

you live. You have to have enough confidence in yourself

to be able to talk to your professors and other students

when you have a question or trouble on something.

Going to college helps make a individual a well

rounded person due to the freedom of speech, thought,

and actions that each student enjoys at colleges across

the world. In these schools the students can become much

smarter and more of a well educated person, because of

the freedom enjoyed at these schools. As E.D. Hirsch Jr.

stated, " Perhaps American culture is friendly to first

rate universities because of our tradition of freedom of

speech and our consequent toleration, even

encouragement, of dissent. Open discussion and

iconoclasm create the sort of atmosphere in which

intellectual excellence can flourish." (Hirsch Jr.) His

way of thinking and how he expressed it in that

statement is very much what I think. He is saying that

in universities in America you can disagree with

something your teacher says as long as you can back it

up with fact. This causes you to learn more on your own

and be capable of expressing your feeling out loud. That

is how your intellect can flourish through the

universities and colleges. Also in Hirsch Jr.'s writing

he took a quote from Jefferson that is very true about

colleges. Thomas Jefferson's statement about University

of Virginia, is engraved into a portal at Cabell Hall.

He said, "This institution will be based on the

illimitable freedom of the human mind. For here we are

not afraid to follow truth wherever it may lead, nor to

tolerate any error so long as reason is left free to

combat it." This is such a good statement that Jefferson

said that stills holds strong today. He does not say

that college is just for preparing you for the working

world. He says that college is for giving you the

freedom of thinking and performing your own and not

being afraid of being wrong. As long as you do not think

your answer to be the only answer and the right one.

I do agree that if you are going to college you are

mainly going there to learn a skill or talent that you

will use to get a job in the world. But college is so

much more than just going to learn everything that you

can. You do not just get the skills you need for your

job when you attend college. You learn so much more that

you will be able to always use threw out your life. It

is a great stage in life that you should enjoy very much

and can make you grow up as a person. There is so much

more to the college experience than just preparing you

for the working world. You will meet new people and

experience new ideas and situations. The college

experience helps make you a very well educated and well

rounded person, who can then go on to the next stage in

life.

So over all I do not total agree with the statement

that the primary function of colleges and universities

is to prepare students for the world of work. They are

so much more than that, and if you do not relies that

you need to think what a student does in their free time

at college. You are free to do what ever you want when

you are at college and this helps people grow. They

learn how to live on their own and become there own

person. This is a very important part of a lot of

peoples live in this present day. So many kids go to

college after high school, which is a part of there

lives that helps them grow as a person. That is why I

believe that college has so many benefits to each person

that attends it. It does so much more than get you ready

for the world of work.

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