Late History Case Study

The thought of college is often overwhelming and fills a person’s head full of anxiety and stress. If you look back on what you have accomplished up to this point in your life this large step in life suddenly seems much smaller. I have been going to the same small private school all my life so many people could argue that I have been sheltered for most of my life or see the world through “tunnel vision.” Now all of this is entirely true, but throughout my high school years I have gradually become more of the person who I am today. For example, my junior year English teacher assigned my class the daunting task of a junior thesis. At first I thought this assignment was simply busy work and had no meaning to it, but as I began to pick a topic and research it I began to discover a possible

Liz Addison’s essay, Two Years Are Better than Four, was published on September 26, 2007, in the New York Times Magazine’s college essay contest. The essay was only a response to Rick Perlstein’s opinionative article, “What’s the Matter with College?” in which he argues that the college experience is no longer exists. Addison’s essay contains both weaknesses and strengths throughout her claim, title, opposition, common ground, and evidence. Addision’s claim is stated fairly throughout her essay, but of course, it is more coherent in the beginning of her essay, “For Mr. Perlstein, so rooted in his own nostalgia, is looking for himself – and he would never think to look for himself in the one place left where the college experience of self-discovery

Historians make the case for years circa 1000-1200 CE as a turning point in European history because many changes occurred, including religious, cultural, and economic changes. First of all, there was the Christian schism in which the Latin church and the Orthodox church separated. Previously there was only the Catholic religion in Rome, but now there was a split between this and the Orthodox sect of Christianity. The Byzantine Empire adopted Orthodox Christianity while western Europe continued to follow Roman Catholic traditions. Also, the decline of the Roman government led to a lot of changes. There was no longer an urban-based civilization, like that of Rome, which led to a population decrease. Roman roads and public buildings made of marble

Galileo Galilei, an Italian polymath, once said, “You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him find it within himself.” After graduating college, many students feel anxious about the new chapter of their lives they’re about to begin. Students are bound by a curriculum since primary school, guidelines they conform to all their lives in order to walk across a stage with a degree in hand. However, these individuals are seldom able to explore the passions inside of them that shape their aspirations throughout their time in the education system. Instead, they reflect on their college years of staying up all night to write final papers. Finals papers students have revised and edited a multitude of times in order to produce a paper that adheres to a rubric and, once again, conforming to another set of guidelines. In Donovan Livingston’s Harvard Graduate School of Education Commencement Speech, “Lift Off”, Livingston uses rhetorical devices such as alliteration, allusion, and metaphor to reinforce his message that students should not be limited by the confines of the education system, but that the education system should be supporting and guiding students towards reaching their full potential by the time they step out into the real world.

I’d like to think that when i graduate i’d be more excited rather than sad to leave, but truth be told i’m more sad to do so. All your life you have been told where to sit, where to go and how to do it. Everyone has been holding my hand this whole time and now i’m choosing my class schedule for college, something that was made for me my whole life. Throughout senior year i have learned valuable life lessons which will help me, throughout college and life in general. Would you believe me if i told you most of those lessons were learned right here in Mrs.Hilers senior english class?

For our first essay, I selected the topic group “Is College the Best Option” from They Say, I Say. I chose the group for a few key reasons. I have read, streamed, listened, and watched many different forms of the discussion on higher education, hearing many compelling arguments from both sides on the issue. The education system in the United States of America is a topic that I continue I strive to learn about whenever the opportunity presents itself and it did just that with this assignment. Although I had never read any of the selections from the three authors that I chose, I had heard of the President of The University of Maryland, Freeman Hrabowski, but I had never read any of works or realized that he was a writer. It was an enriching experience to read more about the subject from new perspectives. I believe that the insights I gained from the readings have helped shape my views on the topic and will help me in the near future.

College is seen as a requirement for a stable life. From an early age, we are taught that college is an essential step in life. Yet is college all that it is pumped up to be? Stephanie Owen and Isabel Sawhill along with Charles Murray gives us a good look into the benefits and drawbacks of going to college and take us on a journey of understanding that college may be a hindrance for some rather than an intelligent move.

Andrew Delbanco’s essay “A college Education: What is its purpose?” gives three reasons why college still matters. Delbanco teaches at Columbia University, where he’s the director of American studies and has written several books on the meaning and benefits of college. Delbanco, begins his essay by discussing what college means to each individual student. He states, “For many more students, college means the anxious pursuit of marketable skills in overcrowded, under resourced institutions. For still others, it means traveling by night to a fluorescent office building or to a “virtual classroom” that only exists in cyberspace.” (1) Delbano successfully uses pathos to appeal to his audience’s emotions, his personal experience and anecdotal combine to persuade his readers to consider or realize the importance of receiving a college education, however his essay contains minor flaws that can counteract his claims.

The experience that occurs at college must reflect to younger generations that college is not a scary place, and that it is a safe and secure place as if they were at

In addition to the social aspects, college teaches how to develop independent thinking. It also “exposes future citizens to material that enlightens and empowers them, whatever careers they end up choosing” (Menand, 3). However, most students today perceive college fundamentally as a party scene and various forms of entertainment instead of focusing on school work. They have forgotten about the academic freedom provided by receiving a proper college education.

Kim has seen Vietnam in flames, been in a communist re-education camp and moved to Canada, where her parents have very little money as they work minimum wage jobs. With the help of her parents, she is given opportunities and is able to pick out the positive things in life. She is able to reflect upon the hardships her parents faced such as being put in a communist camp and having to lose everything and move to Canada. Despite being very uncomfortable and not understanding a thing the teacher or other are saying, she is able to find happiness in the little things many people would skip over or take for granted. Her negative

College is a chance to be free and is a bridge between the real world and school. I’m an adult and expected to behave as such; I make my own choices where I have to decide what is important to me. I have an opportunity to learn how the world works, to explore the limitless possibilities and a chance to admire how vast knowledge can be. College will change my life in the way that I can develop life skills outside academics, to be fully

For many, after graduating high school the next big step is college. I never asked myself why or if I even wanted to. Yet, since I was not yet ready to join the work force, and didn’t want to disappoint my parents, I simply followed the path that I was supposed to take. For a while I had no direction, but through the loss of my high school English teacher and my dream of making my family proud, I discovered that college was the place I wanted and needed to be.

Sitting in class for the first time, it was half of what I expected. I expected to sit by people I didn’t know, learn about old things in new lights, and writing a lot of papers. What I didn’t expect was me hating college. I am not as creative as some teaches would like, but that isn’t my personality, and I dint want it to be either. I fully expected college to try and morph me into a perfect little student that I knew I wasn’t. College so far to me hasn’t been fun and I will treat it like Wal-Mart. When I say that, I mean that I will get in and get out as fast as possible. If I pick up stuff along the way then alright, but if I don’t, then it won’t kill me.

First off, who I am as a learner has changed over the past years. At times before, I wouldn’t take certain classes or assignments seriously and have learned my lessons when I failed. I believe having classmates at the time who weren’t as focused as I wanted to be, played a big role in my lack of understanding in classes. I understood later that if I felt learning was so important to me, I need to realize that it is my future and I needed to focus on my own. Having learner in my top 5 strengths defines me very well. Rath (2007) explains that, “The process, more than the content or the result, is especially exciting for you” (p.133). I believe this defines me as a learner because I enjoy having books in hand, opening up my notebook to write notes and learning new ways to understand the class. Regardless if the content is something I have to get in to or if I don’t do well on tests, I enjoy the process of studying and learning more even when I know I didn’t do so well; that is what motivates me. I believe as long as I keep this mindset and understand that this is my strength, I will continue to grow and further my education as much as possible. Even though I have failed a few of my last classes, I never let that stop me from continuing. Knowing that I have “failed” makes me realize I know I can do better and I try my hardest not to let it get me down. I will not get further if I don’t keep trying and as a learner I am a motivator to myself in my studies.