As Americans, we have the fundamental right to an education. In fact, from age six to eighteen all Californians are required to be in school. To many American youth, education may seem more like an imposition than a right.
But when reaching adulthood, education ceases to be a requirement and instead becomes a choice; an important one that can significantly affect the outcome of your life. At the most basic level, every high-school graduate has two choices: attending college or not.
Community colleges are not in the business of coddling or handholding, but they do provide students of all ages with an incredible resource for transferring to a four-year university, and students enrolled in community college have an obligation to themselves to take full advantage of the service offered by community colleges.
At The Skyline View, we can’t put a great enough emphasis on the importance of a four-year college education, and with UC and CSU application deadlines on the horizon, we urge you now more than ever to dedicate yourselves to transferring to a university.
At first glance it can be tempting to forgo a college education in pursuit of seemingly more attractive options. Military recruiters lure high-school students with the promise of helping them become self-sufficient and providing pay raises with military promotions. Company recruiters are also eager to get high-school graduates to perform menial minimum-wage duties.
Getting a minimum wage job may seem lucrative to a kid just out of high school, but putting your time, talent and money toward a good college education is without a doubt the smartest investment you can make.
On average, those with a four-year degree have a much broader choice of careers, often in higher-paying professions. Additionally, college-educated people experience a much lower rate of unemployment than those with only a high-school diploma and have increased opportunities for promotion.
However, the path to a college degree is not always a clear one, and often it can be difficult to know where to begin.
By enrolling in a school such as Skyline College, students make a conscious decision to better their futures through higher education. However, community college is not without its pitfalls.
In our previous issue, The Skyline View covered a recent report highlighting the astounding amount of state funds spent on community college students who drop out during their first year. It’s estimated that $130 million in California taxpayer money went to first-year dropouts in 2009.
Some of these numbers are the result of systematic shortcomings on the part of community colleges, but ultimately it is the student who makes the choice to continue his or her education.
Set educational goals for yourself starting today and follow through on them instead of adding to community-college dropout statistics.
Having a four-year degree is quickly becoming a necessity. You will most likely need at least a bachelor’s degree to make a decent living wage, and many employers will only consider candidates with a college education.
Not only does a four-year university help you achieve your academic and career goals, but it also provides you with a once-in-a-lifetime chance to meet new people and make lifelong friends.
The many rewards of transferring to a four-year college make the choice an easy one.
You needn’t suffer from the old Frostian dilemma of which diverging road to travel. Nor in ages hence need you hide your doubt with a lie. Because when it comes to pursuing a college education, the two roads do not lay equally; higher-education will take you farther than you can imagine.
