The Importance of College, Not! by Sue

The Importance of College, Not! by Sue - April 2020 Scholarship Essay

To be important, or not to be, that is certainly the question. Let's break down the question into the three sections.

Let's start with the first section, the "Yes!" section. When looking at the act of knowledge and gaining knowledge, how does one acquire it? Of course, they attend schooling. By attending elementary and secondary schools, a student begins to obtain a grasp for knowledge. If that student enjoys the concept and realizes that to gain more knowledge in their desired field means to attend college, then they are more likely to continue on to college to further the knowledge for that desired field.

The second section is the opposite of the first: "No!". When a student has gone through their elementary and secondary schooling, has gained the knowledge they feel they needed to just "get by" in life, then often they feel there to be no need to enter college to gain more knowledge. Especially if they don't have a field of interest that needs more schooling. These students are happy just staying at the level they are at to then continue their life as normal.

However, what about the third section? The third section would be the "I Don't Know" section. Or another fitting title would be, "I'm Unsure At This Point In My Life, Can I Get Back To You On This?". This title actually explains it best because there are a lot of students that have gone through their elementary and secondary learning and feel they "know enough" and don't have the need to continue learning anything else. However, a few years later in their life, they either come across an interest that needs more education, or a desire to become something that their initial education failed to teach them. These students would then have more of a chance of looking into college because they now have an internal desire to learn more.

Of these three sections, they are neither good nor bad as they are fitting to whatever the student's needs are for themselves. I know that I have fit into the last two sections. I stopped formal education after high school, however, that didn't mean that I stopped learning. Every job I took from graduation until right now, taught me things I would need for the current workplace as well as personal growth. The final decision that came, after almost 30 years away from high school, to enter back into the "land of knowledge" was solely for a personal desire to show clients the knowledge I had gained after leaving high school. However, the only way to show clients the knowledge I had already gained was to enter school once again to obtain a piece of paper (also known as a Degree), so that I could then show proof that I know what I know.

In conclusion, I feel that college is very important for people that have a desire to learn a field that requires more knowledge than their beginning school taught. However, I also feel that college is solely a person's personal decision for their own lives. The person that is considering college should attend college because the desire within their own heart is so strong that it's something they just have to do, not because someone else is wanting them to do it.