WORK: Pros and cons of getting a degree

With the cost of a college education increasing by the years, it is more important than ever to make sure you are going to college for the right reasons and also knowing what you’re getting for your time and money. A lot of people tend to go to college because everyone else is, or because their parents did, or because family wants them to be the first to graduate with a college degree. None of these are good enough reasons. When choosing what to do with your life after high school, you need to consider a number of things: your strengths, weaknesses, likes, dislikes, career goals and overall commitment to getting a college education. These, in addition to many other factors, play a big role in making a concrete decision that can affect your life for many years to come in both your profession and your finances.

There are both pros and cons to getting a college degree, but lets begin with the cons. One of the many issues that students face today coming out of college, is student loans. After graduating, so many students start out their careers drowning in financial debt. This alone is enough to make anyone not want to attend college. Most students will take years to pay off their loans because even with a college degree, most careers don't pay enough money to be able to pay off the debt in a timely manner. Another con of going to college is that after you graduate, there is the risk that you might not be able to find a job in your field of study. Statistics show that “if you were a college graduate under 25 in 2011, there was a 50% chance you were unemployed or working in a part-time position. Take a look at these unemployment rates for college graduates within the last 9 years: 

5.7%       2007

10.4%     2010

 8.8%      February 2013

For the class of 2013, the underemployment rate for college graduates was a staggering 18.3% and in 2012 the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said that 44% of recent college grads were underemployed” (Fairbanks, “2011 College Grads Moving Home, Saddled with Historic Levels of Student Loan Debt). Another reason that attending college may not be the best choice is that there are still many jobs that do not require a college degree or any type of schooling beyond a high school diploma. 

On the contrary, there are many good reasons to pursue and obtain a college degree. There are many college graduates who receive a degree in a certain field and come out making a decent amount of money. They do not have to worry about struggling financially. A lot of times, there are specific jobs that will hire both high school graduate and college graduate, but the college graduate with a degree may make significantly more money than that of the person with only a high school diploma. Many people look for jobs today that will provide insurance and/or healthcare of some sort. Many careers that offer this type of assistance, will most likely accept college grads over high school grads. College can also provide opportunity for faculty and students to interact, which can certainly be of value in the workplace. Learning effective communication, cultural sensitivity, social norms, working in teams and taking on leadership roles are just a few of the many skills that can be learned in a college environment. 

The education and training of a country's workers is a major factor in determining just how well the country's economy will do. The study of the economics of training and education involves analyzing the economy as a whole, consisting of employers and workers. Two major factors that influence wage rate are training and education. In general, well-trained workers tend to be more productive and earn more money than workers with poorer training. Not in all cases, but in my own personal experience, a lot of times, people who choose to further their education and are persistent in getting a degree are more willing to work hard and need less training in the long run. People can increase their earning potential by developing and improving their abilities. The more they know about a particular job's function or the more they understand, a lot of times, the more valuable they will become to an employer. Usually people who have attended college and received a degree are more apt to improve their potential in order to increase their salary. From an employers perspective, they typically want to hire people who are going to be productive and require less management or training. This can help a company can run more efficiently. 

Storytelling: Pride and Prejudice

First published in 1813, Pride and Prejudice was Jane Austen's second novel. Its hero and heroine, Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet, may be the most famous romantic couple, short of Romeo and Juliet. It quickly became one of the most romantic novels of all time, and now has become one of the most sought after films. Directed by Joe Wright the film was released on November 11, 2005.

Pride and Prejudice is a humorous story of love and life among English gentility during the Georgian era. Mr. Bennet is an English gentleman living in Hartfordshire with his overbearing wife. The Bennets' 5 daughters; the beautiful Jane, the clever Elizabeth, the bookish Mary, the immature Kitty and the wild Lydia. Unfortunately for the Bennets, if Mr. Bennet dies their house will be inherited by a distant cousin whom they have never met, so the family's future happiness and security is dependent on the daughters making good marriages. Life is uneventful until the arrival in the neighborhood of the rich gentleman Mr. Bingley, who rents a large house so he can spend the summer in the country. Mr. Bingley brings with him his sister and the dashing (and richer) but proud Mr Darcy. Love is soon in the air for one of the Bennet sisters, while another may have jumped to a hasty prejudgment. For the Bennet sisters many trials and tribulations stand between them and their happiness, including class, gossip and scandal.

“The beginning of a story presents a world of possibilities for a writer, and each beginning will make a different impression….Beyond making a favorable first impression on the reader, the beginning of a story typically needs to complete certain narrative tasks”(Kardos, p344). “These tasks include: introducing the characters and the relationships between them, presenting the underlying situation and the beginning of conflict, establishing a tone, voice and point of view, establishing a setting, and giving readers reason to continue” (Kardos, p344).

The film’s opening is different from that of most. It establishes Elizabeth Bennet, the lead female role, as being both “inside” the action, but also an “outside” observer through which the audience will view the story. 

The film begins with overlapping birdsong, which is heard even before the first image appears on the screen. This might suggests to the audience that there is an awakening of nature and will eventually lead to the awakening of other things. The picture then fills the screen, and the audience can see a shot of a beautiful green field and lush trees standing proudly at the end of the stretch of grass, and piano music begins to play as the rising sun peeks over the trees. Mist starts to disperse and a golden glow fills the shot as morning arrives. This scene alone draws the reader in emotionally and makes them feel peaceful before the movie even really begins. In that opening shot, Elizabeth is walking home reading a book. Reaching her home, the audience is able to follow her around the house and we can then see that her home is a “working” estate, rather than what a lot of the traditional “Heritage” films portray. Elizabeth walks behind the sheets hanging on the clothes line. They obstruct our vision, but this can portray to the viewer that Elizabeth’s perceptions are going to be hindered throughout the film.

In the next part of the opening, you see four other girls in the house, one cleaning dishes, two running around, one playing piano. This begins to introduce the different characters that will be a part of the film. It automatically show us their personalities and what type of character they will be. Then the scene moves to show Mr. and Mrs. Bennet, the parents of the 5 daughters, having a conversation about land being bought. Regardless of whether he wants to hear it or not, Mrs. Bennet is very adamant about telling Mr. Bennet what is going on, which begins to reveal to the audience that she is overbearing, while it reveals that he is very calm and collective.

As the story opens up, the scenery and characters alone are enough to draw in the audience and make them desire to see more.