Ethos:
"In Declining by Degrees, a PBS documentary and book, one of the central questions is about why we aren't looking more closely at what really happens between admission and graduation. "
PBS is a well known media company, one with much experience and whose well respected.
"Mom, your degree was exercise physiology."
".. but whatever investment I make in this will serve me and make me happy for the rest of my life. I'll be using what I learn here in my personal life, almost every day, regardless of my career."
A mother relating her experience, while on a personable level with her daughter. Most daughters would see their mother as a roll model in their lives.
"Your son wants to play in a band. You think he should be an engineer."
I wanted to show that this statement doesn't have much credibility unless directed to a parent. Then, talking about children, it becomes personable.
Pathos: "But I'm far less interested in whether majoring in a high-tech field is a good idea today than I am in whether the question even matters."
The author's true colors are beginning to show through. Pride can be an unfortunate blinding factor in where you just want to throw everything out the window.
"When was the last time you honestly heard (and believed) an actual current college student claim that the true benefit of their formal college eduction is in learning to be a lifelong learner? That's just bulls***."
Can you feel the agitation venting from the authors last few words here? In a way, I fancy the day when I will be this "current college student" who will set the record straight for someone who believes this.
"I'm no longer convinced that we should assume a traditional four-year college should be the automatic default for all high school grads, especially given the state of these institutions today."
Kathy, the author, plays her emotions off her daughter. She has the need to express how in her eyes, no sympothy is needed.
Logos: "College means higher lifetime earnings, and there's plenty of research to back that up."
Research has proven this pattern before, along with everyday interactions with people in their career. It's in a way an unwritten fact in obtaining the highest career goals.
"The conventional wisdom says that the specifics of what you learn are much less important than the fact that you're learning the fundamentals, and you're learning to learn-things you'll need to maintain your skills and knowledge in a quickly changing world."
This statement can only be partially true for logos. Of course, we all learn concepts from school that will help maintain skills and produce an analytical mind, but the specifics of what we learn depend on the ambition that's in each of us.
"...whatever decision she makes now does not determine the rest of her life."
Experience shows that a students life is just beginning. Many more and even bigger decisions will determine life.
In a small way I can relate to Skyler, and not getting right into college after high school graduation. I initially was excepted and expected to head into college on a wrestling scholarship to numerous colleges around the country. An unfortunate accident shattered my dreams and hopes. Shortly after this event, my perception changed. I didn't feel college was going be what I needed. All aspirations and ambitions were thrown out the window. I soon realized that my dreams weren't set on graduating with knowledge, but for glory. After years of pondering, trying to figure out why, it clicked. If you're not an educated man/woman, then how can you expect to know when someone is taking advantage of another, perhaps yourself even? What if your constitutional rights were violated? What if you met a scam artist who was going to take you for all your worth?
Yes, this can happen to anyone, and often, most say "this won't happen to me." But we all fear the unknown, we become afraid because we don't know what's happening around us or know what to do in certain situations. For example, take a young student fresh in college, most have never cooked before. Because the lack in experience of knowing how to cook, most students will eat out. Afraid of the unknown, it could taste bad, they themselves could have accidentally poison it or just a lack of knowledge. Well my friend, there's a saying that goes in the library at the University I attend. "Knowledge is power." We're ignorant if we're not educated. We tend to argue with others because they may not be getting the point or they're just not understanding you. Educating ones self has limitless boundaries. Exercising ones mind at the least. Are we not all striving to be of worth and better than we were? In certain times we each need time away, time to ourselves. This could mean taking time off from school, but eventually, if we want to be effective we have to seek that power within.
