You Know

"Scott, your not going out until you do your homework"! This is a very common saying in households across the country. Parents know that education is the key to a happy and successful life. I have hated going to school and doing my homework ever since I was a little kid. Now that I am seeing where all those hours of hard work have gotten me, I am very happy that my Mom yelled at me so often to do my homework. Once High School is finished, college is the next step if you are willing to spend another four or five years in school. College not only prepares you intellectually, it allows you to learn from your mistakes and become an individual. It is very important to get a good education but it is just as important to learn about yourself and your tendencies. The role of higher education is to further prepare you mentally, physically, and emotionally in order to pursue your goals after college.

Without education we would believe everything we heard because we wouldn't know any better. Just knowing how to read and write allows us to question what we hear and to stand up for what we believe in. For example, Frederick Douglass was a young slave who had been told his whole life that it was God's wish for him to be a slave. Not until he started learning to read and write did he realize that he could do something in the world other then be someone's slave. Douglass eventually escaped and became a very influential figure in our history. He went from being an illiterate slave to the advisor for President Abraham Lincoln. It was Education that allowed Douglass to escape from slavery and to pursue his goals. Education begins with being able to read and write but it's higher education that polishes off an individual and prepares them for life.

With so many kids attending higher education facilities it has almost become a necessity to attend college. If you are expecting to get a good high paying job out of high school, good luck. This is because there are so many kids attending college that companies don't have hire anyone without a college degree. Since colleges were established, more and more people have been getting degrees each year. Arthur Levine believes that in the future degrees will slowly loose their importance due to the fact that so many kids are attending college. In today's world it has almost become impossible to support yourself at a job that does not require you to have a degree. Before coming to college I worked at a job that paid $8.00 an hour, hopefully after graduation I will be able to get a job that makes five or six times that. College plays an important role in job security but it also prepares you in ways that cannot

be viewed on paper.

Not only does higher education prepare you mentally, it prepares you to move out on your own and become an individual for the first time in your life. Living at home you always have your parents there pushing you to succeed and helping you in making tough decisions. Once you move out, it is all on you to push yourself and to make smart decisions. In the real world there isn't going to be anyone there pushing you, so if you decide to slack off you will have to face the consequences. The college atmosphere allows