1

TheImportanceofaCollegeDegreetobeSeen
asanEducatedPersoninTodaysSociety

FlorGuitronNavarro
FreshmanInquiry:Portland
October9th2014
AnnieKnepler
Fall2014

Whyisreceivinganeducationsoimportant?Whyarestudentspushedtopursuean
educationoutsideofhighschool?Ibelievethattheanswertothesequestionsisnoteasyto
decipher.Educationlikemanyothertopicshasdifferentkindsofviewsandopinions.So,the
answertothesequestionsmightnotbeinaccordancetoeveryone.Thequestionstillremains,
whyisreceivinganeducationsoimportant?Somepeoplemightarguethatitsimportantto
receiveaneducationtobecomeaneducatedperson.Eventhenwhatdoesaneducatedperson
looklike?And,ifeducationissoimportantintodayssocietywhyisitsocostly?Theseareall
questionsthatshouldbetakeninconsiderationwhentryingtoexplainwhyreceivingan
educationissoimportant.Whatshouldbetaughttostudents,whatdoesaneducatedstudentlook
like,andwhatarethecostsofbecominganeducatedperson.
Educationisasubjectthateveryonehasdifferentviewson.Societyhasdifferentopinions
onwhatandhowchildrenshouldbetaught.InTheGoalsofaLiberalEducationbyWilliam
Crononhestatesthat...itismucheasiertoitemizetherequirementsofacurriculumthanto
describethequalitiesofthehumanbeingswewouldlikethecurriculumtoproduce.(Cronon,
1998,P.2)Itismostlyinhighschoolthatpeoplehaveproblemswiththerequirementsandwhat
studentsshouldlearn.Educationgetsmuchmorecomplexwiththeyearsthereforeitishardto
narrowdownwhatshouldbetaughtinschool.Nowadayshighschoolshavesomany
requirementstograduatebutnothingguaranteesthatstudentsarereallylearningthecontent.
Moststudentsjustaimtogetagoodgradesothattheycanpasstheclass,laterforgettingallthat
wastaughttothem.Thereforesomepeoplemightarguethathighschoolshouldhavedifferent
requirements,requirementsthathavetodomorewiththeoutsideworld,andwhatstudentsmight
enjoyinordertoleaveitengravedintheirbrains.Educationatthecollegelevelmightbemore

enjoyedbecausestudentsgettochoosefromvariousclassesthatcanbeappliedtotheirmajor
andtheoutsideworldmakingitmorepropensetoreallylearnthematerialbecausetheyknow
thatitsactuallytiedtosomethingoutsideoftheclassroom.
Secondly,whatdoesaneducatedpersonlooklike?Beingeducatednotonlyhastodo
withschoolbutwithlifeingeneralaswell.Ibelievethatexperiencesmakeuppartofyour
education.Textbookscontributetoeducationbutrealeverydaylifeexperiencesarealsoapartof
aneducation.Forexampleprofessorsnotonlytalkabouttextstheyalsoputintheirexperiences
becauseitaddstotheeducationstudentsarereceiving.Studentsdon'tnecessarilygooutofhigh
schoolorcollegethinkinginatextbookkindofway.Ibelievethatbeinganeducatedperson
consistsofmanydifferentthingsanditdoesn'tnecessarilylookthesameforeveryone.WhatI
mightthinkisaneducatedperson,canlookcompletelydifferenttoanother.Beingeducatedis
makinginformeddecisionsandtakingpartinyourcommunity.ForexampleFreiretalksabout
theimportanceofcommunitybystatingthat"thepursuitoffullhumanitycannotbecarriedout
inisolationorindividualism,butonlyinfellowshipandsolidarity."Sotomethismeansthatif
youareeducatedinmanyaspectsofyourlifeyouwillmakebettermoreinformeddecisionsnot
centeredonwhatyouwantbutratheronwhat'sbestforthecommunityasawhole.Animportant
aspectofaneducatedpersoninmyopinionisthatwecanalllistentoeachotherandknowthat
weareallgoingtothinkdifferentlybecauseofourdifferentbackgroundsbutitsimportantto
knowthatwecancometoanagreementthatisfavorableforeveryone.Justbecausewedon'tall
agreeorthinkthesameitmeansthatitgivesustherighttotreatothersdifferentorthinklessof
them.Goingtoschoolisn'ttheonlythingthatittakestobecomeeducated.Tobeeducatedyou
havetohavegoodmanners,makeinformeddecisions,contributetosocietyinapositiveway.

Lastly,withallthatbeingsaidifsocietyasawholewantsmoreeducatedpeoplewhyisit
socostlytoreceiveaneducation?Societybelievesthatweshouldspendnumerousamountsof
ourlivesreceivinganeducationtobecomeeducatedintheireyes,butwhyaretheresomany
setbackstoachievingthisgoal?IgraduatedfromalargehighschoolinPortlandandastheyears
wentbyIstartedtonoticethatmanyofthepeoplethatweresettingthemselvesbehindwas
becausetheydidn'thavethemoney,thetime,nordidtheyconsiderthemselvessmartenoughto
gotocollege.Everyoneregardlessoftheirraceorsocialstatusshouldbeentitledtoreceivea
collegeeducation.Howeverthesamesocietythatpushesustogetacollegedegreeistheexact
sameonethattellsusyoucan'tbecauseyou'renotrichenoughorsmartenough.Ifyoucant
mastertheseskillsthenyouarenotcollegematerial.Itissocietywhocreatessetbacksfor
studentsleavingthemdiscouragedandafraidtotryandgetacollegeeducation.Accordingtothe
NewYorksTimeAboutaquarterofcollegefreshmenbornintothebottomhalfoftheincome
distributionwillmanagetocollectabachelorsdegreebyage24,whilealmost90percentof
freshmenbornintofamiliesinthetopincomequartilewillgoontofinishtheirdegree.(Tough,
2014)
Inconclusion,whatshouldstudentslearn,whatisaneducatedstudent,andwhyisa
collegeeducationsoexpensive.Theseareallhighlydebatedtopicsinoursociety.Howeverit
maybestudentsshouldfollowtheirdreamsbecausenoteveryonegetstheopportunitytoreceive
aneducation.Studentsshouldnotfeeldiscouragedtoattendcollegebecausethey'renoteducated
enoughordon'thavemoneyenough.Beside,saneducatedpersonisnotsomethingthatcanbe
defined.Yes,receivingacollegeeducationisexpensivebutbybeingawellroundedperson
studentscangetmanyhelpthroughFAFSAandscholarships.Whilenoteveryonemightagree

onwhatshouldbetaughtinschools,sofarithasdoneafairlygoodjobonprovidingstudents
withamoreroundededucation.

WorkCited
Tough,Paul."WhoGetstoGraduate?"TheNewYorkTimes.TheNewYorkTimes,17
May2014.Web.28Sept.2014.
Cronon,William.TheGoalsofaLiberalEducation.4thed.Vol.67.1998.Print.
Freire,Paulo,andMyraBergmanRamos."Chapter2."PedagogyoftheOppressed.New
York:Continuum,1982.Print.