Is College Worth It?

Empireapple
Thu, 22 Sep 2016 10:10:13 +0000

I couldn’t agree with you more. IMHO, teens need to be teens. They need to grow, need to find and explore their interests, become solid individuals and to do this does not involve living the life you describe above. In our family, we are not encouraging our children to get involved in this race to the “top.” I put top in quotes because success has do with many, many factors, not just going to a name college. I also want my children growing up to be happy, well adjusted individuals. I think that is most important of all and for me, this means taking care of yourself and enjoying living in the present rather than doing nothing but work toward the future. My (junior) son is an Eagle scout because he loves scouting and all of the adventure trips he has been on. Not for a college application… He takes an A.P. class because he is very interested in the topic, not because he is seeking the college credit. He is also taking it because this year he transferred to a new school and he thought it might be a way to meet some nice kids. And gasp, he is taking a “metals” class because he loves to build and create and thought he would enjoy the class. He is now at a very large high school and most of the college bound kids won’t take classes in the amazing Industrial Arts program because you will be in class with “those” kinds of kids. Guess what? He has met some really nice kids there too. One of the most successful and quality adults I know is a partner at a law firm. He tells the story how he was essentially flunking out of high school, joined the Vo-tech program and graduated with culinary training. A few years later he started college, found his path and eventually to Albany Law School. Another person I know (now 80) was a successful and talented Engineer. He nearly flunked high school (had Dyslexia) but went to Lafayette back in the day and found his niche. With today’s standards he could never get into Lafayette What concerns me about the Common Core and today’s American educational system that has been created, and people have bought in to, is that it is closing doors to people who aren’t “in the box” or don’t play the game. The fact that we are defining people’s futures by age 17 is absurd. There is much more to people, success and life than checking all the boxes to get into a name school. This name school is often to be taught by T.A’s and in huge classes where nobody even knows who you are.