I personally think that the dollar and cent cost of going to college is ridiculous. It makes it nearly impossible for the average person to follow their dream to fulfillment, unless you are really determined to get there no matter what. I don't think colleges need to charge as much as they do but then, I think the prices on about everything today are far higher than they really need to be.
One thing that I am thoroughly convinced of however is that education, whether you can attend college is vitally important to all of us and just because we can't attend some fancy Ivy League school or other well known hall of education doesn't mean we need to stop learning after we have graduated high school.
It is becoming more and more important to have that degree to be able to have a well paying job. High School is wonderful but it just doesn't cut it in the world of employment. In most areas now days you need that degree. You need college; you need some form of continuing education. Today there are student loans, grants and scholarships that weren't available when I was struggling to attend college. I managed it anyhow and so can you.
I guess you might call me a perpetual student. Hey, I'm 65+ and there is still a lot to learn out there. No, I'm not going to live long enough to know it all but I can enjoy learning some as long as I am able. I don't ever plan to stop learning.
Is it worth it to go to college? Absolutely. I've changed careers a half dozen times and I have gone to school to learn more about my chosen field each time. I have grown as a person because I was willing to learn new things. There is an old cliché that I rather much believe in and encourage others to follow and that is..."Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss the moon, you will still land among the stars." That is how I feel about education. I don't think anyone has a real excuse for not learning. None of us really know it all. There is always something new to learn about and it keeps life interesting. Knowledge is never boring.
I graduated from a small, one year business college...My parent's choice, not mine. I wanted to be a teacher, a writer and researcher. They said no, they couldn't afford to send me to a Teachers College and I would become a secretary. As it was, I had to work part-time to defray the cost of even a one year, hole in the wall business college, even back even 45 years ago. The business college I attended was three rooms over a local pub. There were only two teachers, one of them being the owner of the college and there was no campus. You either commuted or found a room to rent nearby.
It was not my idea of college but I saw it through. I wasn't given a whole lot of choice in the matter. It was that or nothing. Being someone's secretary was not my dream. Never the less, I benefited from the experience. I'm a fairly good typist. I take good notes. My math skills are still pretty much up to par. I can keep my check book balanced and figure a workable budget. I learned some skills that have been useful to me throughout my life. Those are all pluses and I learned them in Business College.
I didn't like being a secretary and I liked my bosses even less and with more than justifiable reason. I lasted about eight years in that field. I've never gone back and at this point in my life I highly doubt I will. Was Business College worth it? Of course it was and several years later when I decided to go to college again, on my own, I was already married, filing for a divorce and had four children, I had a few credits carried over from that one year, only three but three was better than zero and starting from scratch all over again.
I attended the College of Saint Joseph the Provider. I didn't graduate. I wish I had. I withdrew my junior year in the middle of the last semester because of some family problems. I couldn't handle being a student and a mother and work all at the same time. Being a wife had long since gone out the window. I put my dream on hold. Oh, by the way, just for the record, freshman year of college, I had a 3.90 average, my sophomore year and up until I withdrew my junior year, I had a 4.0 average. Had life's situation been different I would have graduated with honors. I had other responsibilities and I needed to keep my priorities straight. My first priority had to be and was my children. Was it worth it, those almost three more years of college? Absolutely. I learned about a lot of things I never had a clue about before. It helps me to be a better writer and a better person.
