Identify 2 main arguments from the Reading

1)- Two main arguments in the article, "Why Does College Still Matter" by Melissa Harris-Perry are: (a)- higher education provide  a job opportunity, (b)- higher education is important for society.  I think the arguments are convincing because she has data to support.

2)-Two main arguments in the article, "I Don't Want My Children to Go to College"  by Stacia L. Brown are : Traditional College is still important because it provides job opportunity, and it give students who are left behind a change to obtain higher education. Her arguments are convincing because she gives detail explanation, and has data to support her points.

Compare & Contrast

After reading the two articles: "why does College Still Matter?" by Melissa Harris-Perry, and "I Don't Want My Children to Go to College" by Stacia L. Brown, I find out one similarity is the essential of going to college to get higher education. However, there are some differentials between the two readings. The first article focuses on the outcome of graduating from college such as students are more easily to find jobs, more likely to participating in voting, and realizing their commitment to society. On the other hand, the second essay mentions the benefits students get from attending tradition college, such as skills for job opportunity, a chance to get higher education, and avoiding discrimination.

c&c (now that I have blog access!)

“The American Dream: A Biography” focuses heavily on the history of the concept and it’s scarcity today.  The idea was to emphasize freedom, a promise for tomorrow, and ultimately a sense of security.  Today, we suffer from polarized classes that demonstrate a lack of equality and proves that “The American Dream” most certainly does not apply to all Americans. The article examines the positioning of power and responsibility and rests on the value that Americans themselves have always had the power to achieve the dream, regardless.  We move to the next article which points out that the quality of the “Dream” was the sense of hope and trust.

In “Rethinking the American Dream”, we are taken on a journey of watching the evolution of “The American Dream".  That, in a different economic atmosphere, the dream was defined as having opportunity to create wealth and live a rich life-which, today, looks very different and means a lot more gain than it did decades ago.  It’s pointed out that our hunger for more grew to overshadow our sense of what we have, which may not be a problem of what we’re no longer able to do but how we have calibrated our perception of what we have and what we can achieve.

It seems that we are losing momentum with the, “You can be whatever you want!” to a more realistic, “I’m gonna be whatever I’m gonna be”.  The overinflated idea of the American Dream has seemed to pop-I feel that those of us in this proposed “Emerging Adulthood” group are perhaps not waiting for a Cinderella carriage to carry us to our castle of dreams, we are building our own idea of what it means to be happy and have a future.  I think that since we’re all a little new at writing our own story from scratch that maybe it looks a little sloppy, but at least we’re not crying about not having perfection handed to us.  There seems to be a strong theme of self-responsibility that is being upstaged by the prominent hyper-independence that we display and is perhaps quite threatening as it says, ‘I don’t need you’.

Ashley Wilhelm

Why we go to college?

Going to college is becoming a more arguable subject although access to higher education is far easier today. 

According to "Why go to college at all",  Dale J.Stephens, the founder of Uncollege says college education doesn't guarantee your success.  He argues college education limits our potential possibilities we can develop by learning outside of school but we are just confined to institutional structures. Stephens thinks students learn useless skills divorced from reality inside of the "homogenous bubble". Therefore, he argues self-directed education is the ideal form of education rather than waisting time and money on college education. 

However Melissa Harris-Perry refutes his idea in the article "why does college still matter". Melissa says college still plays a significant role of providing economic mobility, growing adaptability, provoking creative mindset. Going to college is beneficial for individuals and societies.   

Two articles have opposite perspectives on college education, but they both acknowledge the power of education in despite of its various forms

Compare & Contrast

In the first article it speaks about why our college students are not becoming adults. Some excuses were that they were not finishing school. However the article is in contrast because it is saying why do even go to college nowadays-that college is a waste of time and money and if you want to be successful ou should just go to an internship. In my opinion school is not the answer or the key to be successful in life it is a possibility or a guide in your own success. for example, if you do not know what you want to do as a career why not go to college and take some general courses just to see what interest you. why no? its not a waste if you do not put your time and effort in it. But if your going to be sitting in the back of the class and barely make it to class then your not just wasting your time but your taking a seat that maybe a dedicated student needed.
I think school is a tool in which helps us be successful in life, no you do not need to be buried in student debt trying to get a PhD but at least give you a sense of direction in your career. what was said once before the mind is a terrible thing to waste.

college yes or no?


Both articles discuss why school is necessary and why not but they do bother agree that it is not required. Teens/adults go to school and years later they are unhappy and getting payed salaries that those without an education who worked themselves from the bottom to the top are almost equal. Plus they start to want more. One of the articles discusses how parents don't want their children going to school because it puts them in debt and causes them great stress but the other article argues that without an education you will not have a high paying job and nothing is guarenteed. They both go back and forth but in the end school is extremely beneficial if you are going into a medical or teaching field but for those going into careers where they can learn hands on their best option is to work their way up the chain. Social skills can develop anywhere and school is not the best place to learn those skills.

The compare of attending college

    Should we go to college or not? This argument is becoming bigger and bigger recently. In article “I Don’t Want My Children to Go to College” and “Why Go to College at All?”, they both argue whether college is worth it. These two articles use a lot of researches and statements to support their opinions. 

    Even they both think that attending college is not necessary, but they do have some difference in between. In "Why Go to College at All?”, the author points out that college is not worth at all. He thinks that college is the last place to go if you don't have any choice because the learning is not happened in college. Also he said that college is just a place to learn how to follow a direction and rule. 

    But in article  “I Don’t Want My Children to Go to College”, author thinks that college is not a place to just learn something, also it has lots of thing to do with. He points out that college is not necessary due to some young graduates didn't learn any useful skill on campus. Due to online course is valuable and convenient for many people, so he suggests that people should consider deeply to make sure what they want and need. Even author thinks attending college is not necessary but he admits that there is no substitute for traditional college like human interaction. That's why Buzzfeed president Jon Steinberg thinks that he still would let his children go to college if they extremely want to be scholar.