This can cause many a problem. I just read in yesterday's Pacific Daily News (Guam's main newspaper)--in the Dear Abby column--that depression is common among incoming college freshmen, and it was found that most of these depressed college freshmen were either forced by their parents or felt enormous pressure to go to college. It's obvious that college is not for everyone. In fact, college is not for most people. Only one percent (1%) of the entire earth's population is actually college-educated with a degree. If that does not say that college is not for everyone, then I'm not sure what will. People must understand that they do not have to go to college. It is not shameful if one does not choose to go to college. In fact, most of America's top computer technicians--such as Microsoft founders Bill Gates and Paul Allen--either never went to college or did not finish. This goes to show that success is possible minus a college degree, and it's entirely up to the individual what they do with their life. Although a college degree will undoubtedly help one in their climb up the "success ladder," it is not necessary. But anyway...
That was not the point of this blog (sorry, lol). I mentioned Kai's reason for college in this blog so that I can emphasize mine. As I was saying, I was pondering my reasons for college just recently. I cannot honestly say that I started college completely on my own terms. Like a lot of other people, my mom was indirectly pressuring me to go to college, always asking things like, "Did you fill out your financial aid applications," and "So, have you thought about what you're going to do with your life after high school," without ever really asking if I was going to go to college. I guess she figured that this way, she would not be forcing me or pressuring me to attend college but she could still get her message across. Point taken. That, and all my friends were going to college--ALL OF THEM. Those four that I considered my best friends in the world were all going to college, most of them on the mainland. Only one was staying here on Guam, and she only stayed because she got the Merit Scholarship which paid for her tuition and books in full. I, on the other hand, had not yet decided come graduation day, and I broke under pressure. I decided that I would attend and see how it went, if only to shut my mom up and follow the norm, I guess. But that was then. Since my return home from Oregon and my attendance at the University of Guam, I have come to realize that I now want to be in college. I no longer feel any pressure from anyone to go to college, and I am completely aware that it's my choice whether or not I attend. I'm fully capable of just working for a living, and hopefully landing a job that leaves room for promotions and creating a career out of that. Or, I could join the military, where I will have a guaranteed job along with full healthcare benefits. What's wrong with that? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I have, however, realized that my thirst for knowledge is ever-growing now that I am in college. I find myself wanting to learn more, wanting to learn the secrets of the world. In every class that I am enrolled in, I lose myself in the lectures, soaking in all the knowledge I possibly could in the allotted 80 minutes of class. I love to learn about the world in its social aspect the most, however. I love to learn about how the world is interdependant, whether we're aware of it or not. Just recently I learned the connection between the United States' growing demand for cell phones and other technological conveniences that has become common in the western world and the emergence of what has been dubbed Africa's "First World War," involving the looting of one of Africa's most abundant resources and, not coincidently, the sole natural resource that powers our cellular phones--tantalum. Things like that peak my interest immensely, and for this reason alone I know that I am in college beause of reasons that pertain to me and nobody else. I'm here for my personal benefit, and not to please anybody else. It is this philosophy that I believe people should attend college for. If college students went to school with this mentality, I believe productivity and academic success would become more consistent and evident because these people will be motivated to attend college, thus lessening the "skip-class" rate and the drop-out rate. If only my fellow classmates could see college and education in this same light, the world would become a more enlightened world, with educated and knowledgable people crawling in every corner of God's green earth. If only...
In no way am I professing that I am better than anyone else. In no way am I saying that because I am in college, I am that much better and that much more demanding of respect than those that do not. No, this is not the intent. Please, dear viewer, understand that the point of this blog was to profess my enlightenment, my brand-new thirst for knowledge. I feel as if my eyes have been opened for the first time to things outside of my existing world. I now understand that there are a lot of other things that are going on than I ever imagined, and the things I do here at home might have been caused by things going on in countries that I have never even heard of. This is the point of this blog, because I find this topic most interesting. I hope you did too.
