Blogging Reflection

Blogging reflection

Well here it is, the end of the fall semester. Now that the final week of class is upon us and next week next week are finals I know everyone is busy with cramming for finals, or completing projects, etc.  but I want to take some time to reflect on the semester as a whole. I’m not only going to reflect on my life this past semester but I am going to go into detail reflecting specifically on the blogging I was required to do for my EH-101 class.

This semester has been full of ups and downs in both class and football but I can say I have truly enjoyed it. I have been blessed with professors I enjoyed and opportunities to  learn in ways I hadn’t before. Within the semester I have made the decision to transfer schools next semester in order to pursue a degree not offered here at JSU but as I move on to my new University there are things I will be taking with me from my time here at JSU. One class and professor I will most definitely remember and carry with me as I pursue a different path for my life is the hybrid EH-101 class with Mrs. Sasser.

Going into the semester I wasn’t sure what the hybrid next to EH-101 meant and when I asked people on my team the answer I got was it was going to be a class that you only went to every other week or so. This statement was true for my class, but what I found out was it meant so much more. In the class Mrs. Sasser truly challenged us to learn on our own and to embrace technology to its fullest potential as a learning tool. These were things I hadn’t ever done before honestly and at first the idea was foreign. As the semester progressed I saw myself grow to learn and problem solve on my own instead of expecting someone else to hand me the answer. I feel like this change was truly brought on by the blogging workshops that we did each week along with the blog posts. I had never blogged before but thoroughly enjoyed it once I began.

From my blog posts I had a handful of favorites that I wrote. I felt like through those specific ones I showed both my strengths and weaknesses. If I had to choose one post that showed the most about myself as a writer I feel like it’d have to be the first blog post I did, “All about me”. The post was of course the easiest to complete because it was simply about me but I feel like I had real strong points within that post. As a writer I feel like one of best attributes is my honesty and directness with what I write, I mean what I say exactly and nothing else. I feel like this was definitely something I did well in “All about me” especially when I said “My life can be summarized by three simple words God, family, & friends with those being in order of importance to me.” That sentence is simple, yet says a lot within it. To some this directness in such a simple statement is not necessarily a strength but to me without a doubt it is. I say this because so much in writings we see people try and use these big words that nobody understands and it ends up hurting them rather than helping.

Another one of my favorite blog posts would definitely be Blog post #3. For me the topic was challenging, “what is college good for?” It was a question that I had never really thought about because to me college was a given due to my desire to further my football career. The challenging topic ended up revealing one of my biggest strengths, which has come to be how I incorporate research, and quotes that I find. In this post I had to research the topic because I didn’t know much about it and many things I found were good so when I used them I needed to cite them and be sure to incorporate them seamlessly. I think a good example of this strength would be when I used a quote from an article I found when researching, “Although a college education can prepare you for many things there are also things that college cannot do for you. Bobby Fong says “A college may not always be able to anticipate what technical skills students will need ten years from now. Thirty percent of you will one day work in jobs that don't yet exist. Studies show that nationally, 60 percent of students graduate in majors different from those in which they began. Your generation will change careers seven times over a lifetime.” in his article Don’t Miss the College Forests for the Career Trees.” I think the way I placed the quote into my post without being choppy shows the strength I was talking about.

            Last but not least is my most recent post when I got to completely revise and add to a post made previously. This gave me a chance to improve upon prior work and in this case add a whole new side to my argument. For me the ability to write for both sides of an argument without being biased is easy and I think it is something that I benefit from a writing strength. In the post I argued that college was both “good enough” & “not good enough”. I was able to do this because after I went back and did further research and found new opinions I realized that both sides made sense so I used both arguments in one post. I feel like this would make readers happier because I wasn’t being biased or picking sides as you’d expect someone to do on a topic.

            All in all the blogging this semester was not only a learning experience, it was and eye opening one for me because I saw that I had the resources needed to solve any problem or answer any question I had. I just had to work and find what I was looking for. I want to thank Mrs. Sasser for this semester because I feel like it really has improved me as a student and as an independent person.  

Blog Post #6: Revising

Is college good enough?

Now that I have discussed a couple common questions people have about college and the decision to attend I’m going to discuss a question I feel is becoming a topic of debate more and more lately and that would be “is college good enough?” I am actually going to speak on both sides of the question because I personally believe that there is no clear answer to the question and that there are good arguments for each side.

            First off I am going to argue the fact that I think that college is ‘good enough’. I say this because I feel there are many benefits from attending college both academically and also in nonacademic skills you gain. People attend college for all kinds of different reasons whether it is truly to get and education, or to live the ‘college life’, or simply because they have nothing else to do with their life at the moment. I think that every single one of the people who attend will get out of college what they put into it and to me that is where college’s true value lies. If you’re the person who just wants to live the ‘college life’ and party every night then most likely your going to flunk out or drop out because you came in with no intensions to learn and grow. While on the other hand you have the student who attends because they want to truly become more educated and be able to better their future life, these students I believe will benefit fully from college in every aspect of it. Those are just two more common examples I see as a student but there are many others in between. In Kelsey Lucier’s article 10 reasons to get a college degree she makes points such as you simply will make more money in your lifetime, and that the ability to face adversity will be with you forever. To me both of these points would be all I need to know to say yes, college is good enough!

            As I said I understand both sides of the argument and I think that the argument for college being good enough is rather simple. I mean we live in a society where wealth defines social status and it ultimately determines our life if you really think about it. So why wouldn’t you want to earn more money? A college degree has the potential to earn you hundreds of thousands or even millions more money in your lifetime. Who wouldn’t want that right? Take notice I said it had the potential to earn you more, it is not guaranteed to do so and I think that is where my other argument begins.

           

            I think that the side of he argument that says college really isn’t good enough has many very interesting ideas and make points that I believe many students should consider before attending a university. One of those points is made by Jack Vincent in his article Why your college degree isn’t enough when he says “First off, a degree no longer sets you apart from the pack. Today, high school students are pretty much expected to go to college. Boomers are going back to college.  Plus, there is plethora of specialized technical colleges.  So, there are millions of other people with degrees looking for jobs just like you.  While the realization of the importance of obtaining a degree is wonderful, this shift in thinking took college graduates from the front of the line and placed them right in the middle.  This eliminated the competitive edge that a degree once provided.” To me his argument is pretty eye opening and a little bit scary to think that the degree we’ve been told will open up so many opportunities may have lost its value in some cases. Another major argument for why college is not good enough is stated by Jack later on in the article. “Then, there is college degree dilemma, experience.  It’s hard to land a job without experience, but you can’t get experience until you land a job.  In today’s job market, experience trumps a degree every time.  So much so, that there is a push to keep seniors and boomers in positions past traditional retirement age in many industries.  This is due to the fear of losing knowledge and experience that recent graduates and young professionals do not have.  Even in industries that are intertwined with rapid technological, legal, and medical advancement, experience is the door opener and closer.” I feel like this is the best argument of all for this side of the question. I mean ultimately we all go to college to get that great job but what happens when you don’t get hired due to lack of experience. Then is that degree enough still? Those four years spent in school could have been spent in the field of work and given you some substantial experience. At this point does college actually work against you?

            If you ask me there are many arguments for both sides but one thing I think is true no matter what is the bad habits formed by students due to having to spend so many years in school whether it was elementary or graduate school. Probably the main thing schooling does to someone is skews their view of authority and how to use it if they gain it. This problem is best summed up by John Coleman in The bad habits you learn in school when he says “We think we're leaders if we're the "boss," and if we're not the boss, we should simply do as we're told. In reality, even the most senior people in organizations can't rely solely on hierarchy, particularly given the much needed talents, experiences, and intelligence of the others who surround them.” This mindset is something we develop inadvertently through all the years of schooling but the effect it can have on us in the work place is tremendous. John Coleman also speaks on the fact that through school we are taught that there is always a definite answer and were trained to find that sure answer but in reality many times there is no such thing as a ‘definite’ answer. This hinders our ability to improvise in a tough situation and it has the potential to cost people a job if they don’t realize this problem in themselves.

            All of this brings me to the end of my post. I feel that for different people college can do different things and ultimately what you do with your degree is what matters. Your personal goals and drive to achieve them is what will bring you success in life, not a piece of paper saying you passed college courses. Having a degree will never hurt you but it is also not ever guaranteed to help you. 

Is college good enough?

Is college good enough?

Now that I have discussed a couple common questions people have about college and the decision to attend I’m going to discuss a question I feel is the becoming a topic of debate more and more lately and that would be “is college good enough?” I personally believe that there is no clear answer to the question but I am going to argue the side that I see as more widely accepted.

           I am going to argue the fact that I think that college is ‘good enough’. I say this because I feel there are many benefits from attending college both academically and also in nonacademic skills you gain. People attend college for all kinds of different reasons whether it is truly to get and education, or to live the ‘college life’, or simply because they have nothing else to do with their life at the moment. I think that every single one of the people who attend will get out of college what they put into it and to me that is where college’s true value lies. If you’re the person who just wants to live the ‘college life’ and party every night then most likely your going to flunk out or drop out because you came in with no intensions to learn and grow. While on the other hand you have the student who attends because they want to truly become more educated and be able to better their future life, these students I believe will benefit fully from college in every aspect of it. Those are just two more common examples I see as a student but there are many others in between. In Kelsey Lucier’s article 10 reasons to get a college degree she makes points such as you simply will make more money in your lifetime, and that the ability to face adversity will be with you forever. To me both of these points would be all I need to know to say yes, college is good enough!

            To say the least though, not everyone sees monetary wealth as a good reason for a degree. A lot of people see college as a money pit rather than a good investment. I say this because the loans and debt you may cumulate over the years could end up being more than you make in your career. This is a tough argument to combat with because it is a valid point in many cases, but I feel like it goes back to the idea of you will get out of college what you put into it. If someone goes into school with the right intensions then most likely they will end up in a good paying career which could pay off the debt they cumulate. Also if someone is studious enough to want to go to college for the right reasons to better themselves then it is very likely that they were good high school students and can find ways to receive financial aid that will reduce the ensuing debt they'll face.
             
              With all of this said I still feel like college is something that should seriously be considered by everyone on a case by case basis. There is no one good answer for everyone debating if it's worth the time and money. Although some try to convince you that without a degree you can't be successful that is not true! there is a lot of people who succeed in many ways without having a bachelor's degree of any type.

            

Blog Post #3

Blog post #3

Austin Parker

What is college good for?

          This is the question that many people pondering the decision to attend college ask. Many people are simply raised with the expectation that they will g to college and others are raised in a way that they don’t see the importance of college. In both cases you will find yourself wondering why you need to attend college, and if its really worth it. In my opinion college is a fast track to getting into a career. If you decide to forgo college how will you know for certain that you’re equipped to go into the career that you desire? Not only do I think that it shows yourself if you can do the job the specific career requires I feel like it’s a major way that potential employers separate potential employees. This doesn’t mean that someone without the college education isn’t equally as ready to begin a certain career as someone who has gone through college, but as an employer your can’t know every applicant well enough to figure that out but when you see on a résumé that the applicant has completed college your first thought will most likely be that that person is more ready and more intelligent than another who didn’t attend college. As Louis Menand puts it in her article Live and Learn “Society needs a mechanism for sorting out its more intelligent members from its less intelligent ones, just as a track team needs a mechanism (such as a stopwatch) for sorting out the faster athletes from the slower ones. Society wants to identify intelligent people early on so that it can funnel them into careers that maximize their talents. It wants to get the most out of its human resources. College is a process that is sufficiently multifaceted and fine-grained to do this.” The way that Menand states that is very profound but I feel like it’s a spot on analogy for how society views college, it simply views college graduates as more intelligent.

            Another things that college does for you is it prepares you for the ‘real world’ socially. While your in college you will have to work with people you may not particularly like and you will have to learn to get along with them in order to complete a task at hand. This skill alone is valuable enough to attend college in my opinion. I say that because when you enter your desired career path you wont always see eye to eye with an associate, and you will most likely have disagreements with people that you need to help you complete a project by a deadline in order to feed your family. Professor Mike Rose is cited in the article Professor: Value of College extended beyond Paycheck stating the social benefits from attending college “There are also social benefits, he says: learning to think together, learning to attack problems together, learning how to disagree.” Rose is a professor who teaches an area of education at a public university and he even sees that college is beneficial beyond the obvious job opportunities.

            Although a college education can prepare you for many things there are also things that college cannot do for you. Bobby Fong says “A college may not always be able to anticipate what technical skills students will need ten years from now. Thirty percent of you will one day work in jobs that don't yet exist. Studies show that nationally, 60 percent of students graduate in majors different from those in which they began. Your generation will change careers seven times over a lifetime.” in his article Don’t Miss the College Forests for the Career Trees. Just like Fong says, there is a chance that one day you will be working outside of your degree area and really outside of your main area of knowledge but this doesn’t mean college has failed you. If you do face such a situation one thing that college has taught you is how to face an adverse situation and how to surpass it and succeed. Not only is college beneficial for your future career and job, it inadvertently prepares you in many more ways than that. In my opinion the non academic part of learning you get in college is the true value because it prepares you for many things life will throw at you.

Blog post #2: Why College?

Blog Post #2: Why College?

For this second blog post I am going to answer the question “why college?” For the longest time that question was a simple one for me, football. In my mind the only reason I would go to college was to further my playing career. This was my mind set up until my senior year when I started figuring out things I may want to do in life besides college football and all of them had one thing in common, I would need a college degree to really succeed. For me this was a realization because before I though college was a way to play football but then my mind switched to, football is a way I can go to college.
To this day that is still my way of thinking. I know its cliché but I really do believe in being a student and then an athlete, not the other way around. I say this because my playing career is very limited but I know that my college degree will last for the rest of my life. Yes, playing division one college football will open up a few opportunities in the future that I otherwise wouldn’t have open to me but the degree I earn will open up many more doors in life.
Unlike some athletes I don’t want to only be known for my on the field play. I want people to respect me as a person and in my mind that is more likely with a college degree. Also contrary to most other athletes I have no real desire to go pro in my sport. I have the desire to succeed in the business world and also succeed as a spouse and husband one day. To me that means that I must provide for my future family an to do that ill need a good job that pays well and in order for that I need more than a high school diploma!
Another benefit I believe you get from college is four or five years where you really get to learn about yourself and meet new people that you may not of known otherwise. These are people that can become lifelong friends. Everyone says that college is the best four years of your life, but in my opinion college is four years that can lead to you having the best life you possibly can if you take full advantage of the opportunity at hand.