Tyler Fink

Mrs. Cramer

Comp 1 Pd. 5A

Sept. 27, 2018

Synthesis Essay

Final Draft of College Education

Why do people receive an education? Most get an education, so we may go on to

contribute to and join both local and national society. They may also get an education, so they

may go on to improve themselves. Someone could also use it as a stepping stone to future

success in their own lives as well as potentially improving other people's lives too. The problem

is people in large groups are not attending college either because of harmful stereotypes towards

their ethnic group, or because it’s not financially possible for them to get into and be able to

complete their education. As the times have progressed, earning a college degree is important to

gaining success in all aspects of the modern life style, and becoming personally prosperous.

In today's societal structure it is necessary to have a degree to be able to enter and

progress within the new work force. To be considered for a good high-end job. The first thing

employers will look for are someone's qualifications for that position. Employer’s want the best,

most highly qualified and prepared people to work for them. People look for these because they

want the kind of workers who can show up and have general idea of what to do and what’s going

to be expected of them. Work places also don’t look at all applicants the same. Those with useful

degrees in their job field or credible experience of some kind, will come first when being
considered for that position. But for those who do not have a degree, they will have a much more

difficult time being considered for those higher end jobs because the employers don’t have any

confidence on how you will perform. Employer’s want to hire people who will be able to show

up and already know what to do and have the experience necessary to do their job consistently

and correctly. “For most people when analyzing a college education people typically only really

consider the personal impacts. Such as time, energy, money, and not so much on the wider

opportunities. The benefits of higher education contribute to both our equity and efficiency of

our society” (College Board).

To get ahead and get in a prosperous and successful position, the first step today in the

modern world nearly always includes a degree. People who attend and complete their college

education have a strong relation to economic success, social connections, and family stability.

Having a higher education will lead to more opportunities for success in the future after college.

To get further ahead of and stand out more amongst one’s peers, it is vital to receive a higher

education as a good starting position for possible opportunities for success. It’s much easier to

achieve success in something if they invest time and effort into that goal and devote themselves

completely to fulfilling that goal, for the betterment of themselves and their surroundings.

Furthermore, while in college people will learn and apply many new practical skills. It

improves civic involvement, personal development, better communication, realization of dreams

and passions, greater sense of discipline, greater sense of accomplishment, analyzing info,

exploring new ideas, asking deeper questions, producing more creative minds, and it generates a

higher thinking level (Vista College). Acquiring a college education also allows one to get all the

necessary prior knowledge and experience to be successful in their choice of work. College

prepares you for reaching those seemingly impossible deadlines, intense workloads, and working
alongside people you may not particularly like very much. But all these can be transferred to

have some sort of real-world benefit for those who do pursue a higher education.

While a college education is essential in today’s work force. Many large groups of people

are not pursuing a higher education. Many different segments of the United States' communities

have much significantly lower participation rates for attending college. These communities are

primarily either financially challenged, have large groups of African-American minorities or

both. This is a huge problem for the quickly progressing times and society within the United

States because these large groups of people are falling behind with the modern requirements of

life today. (Annual Reviews of Sociology)

Certain stereotypes focused mostly towards these African-American minorities are quite

harmful. They can and have lowered the rates at which participation in higher education occurs

within these areas for these ethnic groups. While Americans as a society are very far away from

the “Jim Crow”, and “Sambo” era. Their effects on African-Americans can still be felt to this

day. Jim Crow was depicted as a ragged and poorly dressed black man who knew nothing but

how to sing his jingle and walk around being a Nuisance. However, the stereotypes that arose

from the creation of Sambo were much more harmful to how most of the society was run and

how it would be run in the future. Sambo was a children's book written in 1898, and it refers to

black men that were considered very happy, usually laughing, lazy, irresponsible, or carefree.

This depiction of black people was displayed in films of the early 20th Century. (Ferris State

University)

Today’s modern work environment requires a higher education. But many harmful

stereotypes like the ones previously listed as well as financial situations are hindering these large

ethnic groups from being able to pursue a higher education. On average African-Americans have
the lowest participation and graduation rates within the United States. (Annual Reviews of

Sociology) These harmful statements and beliefs of black people often knock these people out of

the running before even getting a fair consideration at the position. This also may unfortunately

lead some of these people to begin believing these things themselves. Believing they were born

“unintelligent” or “lazy and irresponsible”, it isn’t a stable or strong base for positive progress of

society. Removing these harmful stereotypes and supporting these communities' educational

systems so their students have all the necessary materials to succeed as well as other people in

our constantly changing world.

While in our ever progressing and changing world a higher education may be necessary

for individuals and society, people need to make sure that people everywhere have an equal

chance to attempt and succeed in life. People with a college education help society and

themselves by applying what they’ve learned into improving their own lives as well as others.

So, to answer the initial question “Why do people receive an education?”, people receive an

education, so they may improve the world and pass on our knowledge so that those after us have

the same opportunity to continue changing the world in fascinating ways for many generations to

come.
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