More Research More Thinking- 42

My focus for research was on how college has developed over the years. The differences in the amount of people going to college and how necessary it is now than it was before. Now there is much more competition to get a good education in society than before.

Why does it matter to you personally given the experiences you've had in your life - in terms of your feelings, hopes, memories, daily life?

This topic matters to me personally because I feel that for my generation, there is so much pressure to go to a good college and get a good education and the idea of a good education seems as though it disreguards the career path and the drawbacks of going to college. It is so hyped up in society so it makes me wonder, does it actually live up to the hype? And how does it compare to previous generations where it was accepted that not everyone went to college? How have the values in American culture changed in terms of education? It definitely affects my own daily life, schools seems to shape my mindset into just following the steps to get to the next level without even questioning the next level. School as a sorter, wants the students to just go by the system for what it is without questioning it.

Thinking about college a lot, I have hopes for enjoying my college experience socially and academically so it will help me with my career path. I want to feel accomplished by the time I finish college I want to feel confident in the career that I choose. These are hope that society and colleges seem to promise for students. While I have all these hopes for college, I feel like college is just another delay from the 'real world'. I feel like (from my own experience) society does not have too much respect teenagers so it feels like they are just keeping us away from the working force until they feel that we have matured enough to get into the work force. In addition, college is a possible delay for students to decide what they want to do for a good amount of their lives because as I have noticed from my own experience, teenagers can be very indecisive.

How does your topic matter existentially - in terms of the meaning of your life, of knowing who you are, of whether you live well before you die?

The image that I have in my head of living a 'well' life before dying is, seeing different cultures, going around the world, learning new things becaues you want to and not because it is a requirement in society, and you just leading your own life on your own standards. I believe that society's expecations of more education hinders our lives existentially for the majority, we only go to school high school because we have to, now that we have the choice of going to college or going to straight to work, the majority will choose college in this generation I'm guessing because it is expected of us by our parents and the society. People are looked down upon if they do not make something of themselves and people are convinced that after high school, college is the number one way to go.