Untraditional Students Essay -- Education College Adults Learning Essa

Untraditional Students "What can a college education offer me?" Contemplating a return to school after years of childrearing and paid labor is both daunting and invigorating. Entering college as an adult is a life-changing decision. It requires shifts in perception that jar us out of the familiar patterns of our lives. The American Association of Colleges & Universities (AAC&U) reports that the enrollment of adults aged 25 and above has risen dramatically over the past two decades. Adult students now make up 42 percent of all college graduates. What motivates these students? What do they hope to gain from their college educations and what do they actually receive? For many returning students, the motivation is economic. We have heard over and over again that the world is changing, that we are entering the information age, that being in possession of knowledge--and a degree--are the keys to open any door. Some students know just what door they want to walk through. They enter college with a career chosen and a degree plan carefully mapped out. For others, the future is less certain. We aren't sure what we want to do, but we see college as the pathway into "the good life." Sometimes this faith in the economic reward of higher education is naive. Once upon a time a college degree did carry with it a high probability of eventual economic success. A bachelor's degree in almost any field was a guarantee of a good job. The belief that a college degree equals economic security is planted deep in our cultural psyche and hangs on with tenacious roots. We believe this component of the American Dream even as it erodes around us. With corporate downsizing, restructuring, and conglomeration, job security is muc... ...rough the whole program?the time pressures, the deadlines, the whole process. I found that I could actually accomplish something." J. William Fulbright, scholar and U.S. senator, wrote that the goal of education is "the teaching of things in perspective, toward the purposes of enriching the life of the individual, cultivating the free and inquiring mind, and advancing the effort to bring reason, justice, and humanity into the relations of men and nations." On the one hand, statements such as these may seem impractical, idealistic, and unattainably high. On the other hand, we want these things in our lives. Human beings need purpose and meaning just as we need shelter and food. The task for any student, and particularly for non-traditional ones, is to synthesize these often disparate needs into a whole that suits the circumstances of our individual lives. Untraditional Students Essay -- Education College Adults Learning Essa Untraditional Students "What can a college education offer me?" Contemplating a return to school after years of childrearing and paid labor is both daunting and invigorating. Entering college as an adult is a life-changing decision. It requires shifts in perception that jar us out of the familiar patterns of our lives. The American Association of Colleges & Universities (AAC&U) reports that the enrollment of adults aged 25 and above has risen dramatically over the past two decades. Adult students now make up 42 percent of all college graduates. What motivates these students? What do they hope to gain from their college educations and what do they actually receive? For many returning students, the motivation is economic. We have heard over and over again that the world is changing, that we are entering the information age, that being in possession of knowledge--and a degree--are the keys to open any door. Some students know just what door they want to walk through. They enter college with a career chosen and a degree plan carefully mapped out. For others, the future is less certain. We aren't sure what we want to do, but we see college as the pathway into "the good life." Sometimes this faith in the economic reward of higher education is naive. Once upon a time a college degree did carry with it a high probability of eventual economic success. A bachelor's degree in almost any field was a guarantee of a good job. The belief that a college degree equals economic security is planted deep in our cultural psyche and hangs on with tenacious roots. We believe this component of the American Dream even as it erodes around us. With corporate downsizing, restructuring, and conglomeration, job security is muc... ...rough the whole program?the time pressures, the deadlines, the whole process. I found that I could actually accomplish something." J. William Fulbright, scholar and U.S. senator, wrote that the goal of education is "the teaching of things in perspective, toward the purposes of enriching the life of the individual, cultivating the free and inquiring mind, and advancing the effort to bring reason, justice, and humanity into the relations of men and nations." On the one hand, statements such as these may seem impractical, idealistic, and unattainably high. On the other hand, we want these things in our lives. Human beings need purpose and meaning just as we need shelter and food. The task for any student, and particularly for non-traditional ones, is to synthesize these often disparate needs into a whole that suits the circumstances of our individual lives.