The Riches of the Pursuit of Knowledge by Brenna

The Riches of the Pursuit of Knowledge by Brenna - October 2024 Scholarship Essay

During the Progressive Era of the United States, college was not commonly attended by the average student. Only the rich or the academically elite were able to earn a degree, while the common folk worked in factories, or did other handy jobs. As time has moved along, and we end up in the 21st century, an abundance of students now desire to attend college, and have the access to do it. Students attend college now because of its many benefits for progressing your life and career. These benefits include an extensive background on their career field, the ability to pick a path that the student will enjoy, and for the student to gain their own personal development before being completely on their own.
Having an extensive background in my future career field is important to me because it allows me to have the best idea of what a real world experience is like. For example, the career plan that I intend to pursue is sports physical therapy. In order to earn this degree, I will need to take extensive classes and have so many hours of shadowing a real physical therapist in order to earn my degree and go into that field. Having this kind of background knowledge going into every degree allows for more specialized jobs, and therefore more demand for employees, which helps out with the abundance of students now going to college to earn a degree. There are certain specialized professions that require an extensive background knowledge and a college degree, and I am absolutely one of those students, and that is why a college degree is important for me.
Having a background in the career field of my choice also allows for me to be able to know that I will enjoy the career path that I pick. While getting a valuable education, I can start to learn whether or not what I’m studying is really exactly what I want to do in my field. This makes a college degree important, because then I know I can be sure that I will enjoy what I do. In careers, people tend to work harder and with more excitement when they enjoy their job. This makes a college degree significant in the role of worker enjoyment and reliability.
Another thing that makes a college degree vastly important is the personal development that students get as they are getting that education. I know that for my profession that I need that development in my education, and I need everything that a degree can give me. College is a good in-between stage between education and a full time profession. A degree allows you to have first hand experience for the profession that you want to pursue. Going to college also allows an 18 year old that has just moved out of the house to be able to live like an adult, while still being able to go to their parents. And, it encourages the pursuit of knowledge, which is good for its own sake. Knowledge is one thing that we as people cannot get enough of, and to have a college degree and this extra level of learning is nothing but good for our personal development.
In America, we have seen a lot of growth in education as a country. In 100 years, we went from a country where college was normally out of the question, to a place where college is actually accessible to those with the ambition to make it. A large part of what makes college accessible now with the sky high tuition rates are scholarships. With the help of scholarships, any student can achieve anything with the necessary degree, and they can see every single one of these benefits. I aspire to obtain a college degree so that I can continue to grow as a student and reach my dreams of being a physical therapist. A college degree is nothing but good for us students and our nature of thirst for knowledge.