Part 3: College Prep

This is the third in a four part series of posts that deal with some of my most significant feels about change in the current world.

Teenagers are expected to go to college. College has become an absolute necessity for all young people after high school. I see that as an excellent thing. I love the idea of more people receiving a higher level of education.

Students look at college as a great way of getting an education, as well as a great place to get a whole bunch of other things, including a plethora of social experiences. But colleges don’t always look back the same way. Often times, students are a dollar value to a college. We, as prospective students, are a number, a business investment. This is not always the case, but unfortunately it is the case sometimes.
Students, therefore, need to be much more selective about which college they choose to attend. This is most specifically important because college is just that: a choice. The possibilities are endless as to the locations one can attend. Someone can attend anything from an Ivy League school to a Big 10 school, to a private, small college and even a community college. The bottom line for the students is that college is a stepping stone for becoming professionals in certain fields of trade.

Universities should shift some of the focus as well. Some colleges spend so much money and time on athletic programs when there are thousands of bigger issues at play. Why spend so much extra money to make an already large stadium all the larger when that same money could have gone to technological advancements in science equipment or into scholarships toward making education less of a financial detriment to families.

Life is not always fair, but education should not be something that is a frustration and burden upon the people who are out attempting to get a good job or delve into a new market. Universities should be focusing on sculpting the young people of this nation to become the doctors who will save lives, the politicians who will lead justly and intelligently, the authors who will inspire, and the artists who will bring beauty to the world. There is no price-tag that can be attached to the value of a person bringing light to the world through their chosen area of expertise.