“The Imperiled Promise of College” by Frank Bruni

Is College Worth It?

            College may not be the answer to everything. According to “The Imperiled Promise of College” by Frank Bruni college is not the answer to everything. I am in college right now. So, I have an entirely different opinion about college. For me, college is the way to a better life and it is a must. My mom always has explained to me the importance of going to college. I have seen the struggles of individuals that decided not to go to college. Bruni begs to differ about the real importance of college. The main points discussed is not going to college, college cost and finding a job after college.

            Some high school graduates don’t go on to college. For males it is easier to find a good paying factor job. Bruni states, “for a long time and for a lot of us “college” was more or less a synonym for success” (Bruni 1). My neighbor didn’t go to college but is making six figures. He started at a local factor right after college. He was worked his way up to being a supervisor in less than ten years. This is an example of how someone can make good money without going to college. Women, on the other hand, can’t do the physical work of a factor job. So, being a woman I feel like it’s a must to go to college to have a better life. I have seen non college graduates struggle their whole life. They have had to rely on government assistance programs. One day want to be a role model to my children. I want to teach them the value of education. College is more than just a degree. Even in my human growth class we talked about the cognitive effects of going to college. College teaches students to look at the world in a different perspective.  I wouldn’t have had these valuable skills without college.

            College does come with a big price tag. I remember when I first started looking at colleges a couple of years ago. My plan was to go away to college with my friends. The thought of spending twenty thousand for one year scared me away. That is why I decided to stay home and attend college at NCSC. For me, it was the thought of loan interests on top of four years of college. Bruni even states, “An unacknowledged backdrop for the pitched debate last week about federal student loans and whether they would be kept at 3.4 percent or allowed to return to 6.8 percent” (Bruni 3). I do agree with Bruni the interest rate on student loans is outrages. Lucky for me NCSC is in my hometown. My mom always taught me in order to make money someone has to spend money. College is an investment and security for the future. Bruni says, “Because of levitating cost, college these days is a luxury item” (Bruni 4). Almost all of college students have to take out student loans. Going to college can seem like a “luxury item.”  After four years at a traditional college someone will have eighty thousand dollars’ worth of debt without interest. Eighty thousand dollars could buy me a new 2013 Land Rover or a good down payment on a house. Those are “luxury items” to me. It is scary to think after college and its debt what if someone can’t find a job.

            In today’s times, college doesn’t always equal job security. Whenever I told my mom what I wanted to go to college for she made me research that field. I found the nursing degree to have a great job growth in the next years to come. Some students don’t research their job field. Bruni even says, “College graduates have an unemployment rate half of people with only high school degrees” (Bruni 5). There are a lot of college graduates without a job or are over qualified. The only purpose of going to college is to have job security making good money. The percentages of employment of college students are increasing. Bruni states, “According to an Associated Press analysis of data 2011, 53.6 percent of college graduates under the age of 25 were unemployed or, if they were lucky, merely underemployment, which means they were in jobs for which their degrees weren’t necessary” (Bruni 7). There is always a risk to everything we do in life.

            The main points discussed is not going to college, college cost and finding a job after college. I agree with Bruni on some of his points. He only discussed the negative things about college. I hope to not be another college statics and prove Bruni wrong about college. College is an investment for my future. It’s more than just a degree. There are valuable skills learn at college that can be used for the rest of someone life.

Works Cited

Bruni, Frank. "The Imperiled Promise of College." The New York Times. The New York Times, 29 Apr. 2012. Web. 17 May 2012. <http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/29/opinion/sunday/bruni-the-imperiled-promise-of-college.html?_r=1>.

             

A Comparative Analysis of Ryan Healy’s “Twentysomething: Be Responsible, Go Back Home After College” and Florinda Vasquez’s “The ‘Responsible’ Child”

A Comparative Analysis of Ryan Healy’s “Twentysomething: Be Responsible, Go Back Home After College” and Florinda Vasquez’s “The ‘Responsible’ Child”

           

Both essays, Ryan Healy’s “Twentysomething: Be Responsible, Go Back Home After College” and Florinda Vasquez’s “The ‘Responsible’ Child” deal with the issue of going back home after college, and whether its responsible or not. Healy states, “When you look closely it is glaringly apparent that moving back in with parents is one of the most responsible things a new college grad can do” (172). On the other hand, Vasquez states, “I have some major disagreements with this post blogger Ryan Healy, suggesting that it’s a ‘responsible’ decision to move home after college” (174). Vasquez essay is a response to Healy essay. Vasquez is a mother. Her views would be different from someone just using statistics like Healy. Vasquez is based on opinions, while Healy’s essay is based on facts. In Healy’s essay it states, “According to Monster.com, 60 percent of college graduates move home with mom and dad after graduation and the trend is on the rise” (172). Vasquez’s explanation for using her opinion states, “As I say, I’m probably a traditionalist, and my viewpoint is in line with my own experiences” (175). Healy’s essay is more agreeable because of his points on finance, parent support and transition period.

            In each of the essays Healy and Vasquez both share a common ground on financial support and moving back home. They both agree by basically saying moving back home is a good financial decision. Healy states this by saying, “However, moving home with Mom and Dad will immediately save you about $700 a month in housing cost” (173). Vasquez replies by saying, “ If the grad takes advantage of that – in a ‘good’ way – by working hard and saving up that money during this time period, he or she will be much better positioned financially for a more desirable lifestyle when the time to move out finally arrives” (174). My mom’s friend Latonya moved back home after college and was able to pay her debts back from college in six month interest free. For three more years, she stayed with her parents and was able to pay for her first home in cash. Using this parent support system definitely has its advantages according to Healy.

            Healy and Vasquez agree that parents’ support is a good thing but in different ways. Vasquez thinks there is a fine line between using parents and gaining help from them. Vasquez clarifies this by saying, “Unless the recent grad is paying rent and other housing expenses to the parent, and doing his or her own laundry, errands, cleaning, etc. – that is, approximating living on one’s own as closely as possible under the circumstances – I’m inclined to think “my house my rules’ applies, especially if there’s also some amount of ‘my support’ involved” (175). Healy goes in a different direction with the idea of parent support. Healy thinks having more time to look for a job will give the graduate the best opportunity rather than just trying to get any paying job. Healy states, “By moving home after graduation, you have little or no rent, which allows for more freedom when searching for a job” (173). Healy thinks that being able to go out and look for a better salary is an advantage of living with parents. 

            There is a certain transition period both authors can find a common ground on. Vasquez wants to raise a functioning adult as any mother would. She believes that independence is the key and coming back home is going to hinder the graduate more than helping. Vasquez states, “And I’d suggest that rather than going away and coming back, one might ultimately arrive at the same place by attending a local university and living at home, preparing for a transition to independence after graduation” (175). On the other hand, Healy uses Jeffery Arnett as an example of transitions and quotes Arnett, “The period between college and adulthood as a self-focused stage where people have the freedom to focus on their own development” (173). Healy backs this up by saying, “Moving home for a while period enables an appropriate and productive transition” (173). In a sum, Healy thinks moving home helps graduate to make a better transition to the adult world.

            In conclusion, both authors agree to some degree on the main points of finance, parent support and transition period. As long as the graduate is on the right track, then moving back home is a responsible decision. Vasquez wants to raise independent adults. On the other hand, Healy wants grads to take full advantage of the support of the parents. His reasoning is the ultimate way to slash debt. He wants the grads to weigh out their opportunities rather than going through the word alone like Vasquez wants individuals to do. Vasquez’s example and reasoning are the most extreme cases. Healy, using facts, supports his statement that going back home after college is the most responsible thing to do after college.

Works Cited

Healy, Ryan. “Twentysomething Be Responsible, Go Back Home After College.” The Contemporary Reader, Ed. Gary Goshgarian. 10^th ed. Boston: Pearson Inc., 2011. 172-173. Print.

Vasquez, Florinda. “The ‘Responsible’ Child?” The Contemporary Reader, Ed. Gary Goshgarian. 10^th ed. Boston: Pearson Inc., 2011. 174-175. Print.

Caroline Heldman’s essay “The Out-of-Body Image”

The Body Image

           

People have presumptions of what the perfect body looks like. Caroline Heldman’s essay “The Out-of-Body Image” discusses how body image affects people. Through many case studies, she is convinced that people with lower self-objectification do better in life than those with higher self-objectification. Self-objectification is how we look at ourselves through other’s eyes at our body image. While self-objectification has many effects, it tends to affect more women than men. Over the years, it’s slowly starting to increase in men. Heldman supports this idea by saying, “Boy and men experience self-objection as well, but at a lower rate- probably because, unlike women, they rarely get the message that their bodies are the primary determination of their worth” (50). Although I agree with Heldman’s essay, I think the most negative outcomes of self-objectification weren’t discussed enough; acquiring this idea body image can lead to eating disorders, which could ultimately lead to depression or suicide.

            The first link to self-objectification is body image. We are controlled by the things around us. We are secretly being blinded by ads of ideal bodies each day. According to Heldman, “U.S. residents are exposed to 3,000 to 5,000 advertisements a day- as many per year as those living half a century ago would have seen in a lifetime” (50). Each one of the cover girl’s ideal bodies is not real, but actually computer airbrushed. These cover girls paint fake pictures in our heads, which people try to compare their bodies to. Men and women are not the only ones being affected but children as well. The increase of the internet helps spread more ads than usual, Heldman believes, “The internet accounts for much of this growth and young people are particular exposed to advertising: 70 perfect of 15- to 30-year-olds use social networking technologies such as MySpace and Facebook” (50). This belief is being passed from generation to generation through the growth of technology to look skinny for an image rather than having a long lasting healthy life.

            Some people are so obsessed with their body image they’ll take any measure to be skinny. It can range from simply just being a weight lose diet or having an eating disorder. Heldman agrees by saying, “Women who self-objectify are desperate for outside validation of their appearance and present their bodies in ways that draw attention” (51). Many Americans struggle with diets. Everyone at some point of their life has been on a diet, whether it’s for the summertime or an upcoming event. We are all guilty of this. Little do we know dieting can very easily cross over to an eating disorder. Eating disorders are an outcome of having high self-objection. A dear friend of mine, Abby, had an eating disorder called bulimia. She would consume large amounts of food, then no later than thirty minutes later she would throw everything back up. She became obsessed with this and soon became depressed.

            People that are depressed think irrationally. This causes thousands of people’s minds to shut down each year, which could lead to suicide. These cover girls ads put unrealistic beliefs in our minds. Our thoughts start to follow our actions. Heldman’s studies have shown, “Self-objectification has been repeatedly shown to sap cognitive function because of all the attention devoted to body monitoring” (51). Abby went through depression for months while she battled bulimia. She was so small that she was bullied because her bones were showing through her clothes. After a month of depression, she came to the final decision to commit suicide. Watching this first hand, I understand how one can become so wrapped up in their body image.

            In conclusion, body image can lead to serious problems. Many American women and men deal with these problems every day without even knowing it. We are passing these ideas down from generation to generation. The increased use of technology may be hurting us more than it is helping. To make matter worse, these cover girl bodies are computer designed. We are setting unrealistic goals for ourselves. The self-objectification crisis, not only in American but the whole world, should be taken more seriously because thousands of people lose their lives every year. Heldman even states, “Self-objectification isn’t going anywhere anytime soon” (52). To stop these recurring problems, we have to first start with ourselves. The cycle has to end somewhere. We must learn to be happy with the skin we’re in. People come in all different shapes and sizes. No one really wants to live in a perfect, skinny world.

Works Cited

Heldman, Caroline. “The Out-of-Body Image.” The Contemporary Reader, Ed. Gary Goshgarian. 10^th ed. Boston: Pearson Inc., 2011. 50-53. Print.

FAST & EASY !! BECOME A STNA FAST !!!

This is for OHIO ONLY. I had to write this essay for my college ENG-101 course

The Steps of Becoming a STNA

             STNA stands for Stated Tested Nursing Assistant. Generally, one becoming a STNA will someday go on into the nursing field. Becoming a STNA is one step closer to becoming a LPN or RN. Most LPN or RN programs require a STNA certification. I decided to take the necessary steps in order to become a STNA in August of 2010. I came to this decision because I wanted to become a RN. I did the research of the requirements to get into the RN program and found out that becoming a STNA was a must. I found a local class site. In my research, I found there are requirements to start the program, the actual class, and the final test to receive my STNA certificate.

To start the STNA classes, some things were required, including: showing completion of high school, having an up to date physical, showing up to date vaccinations, getting a two-step TB test, and getting a criminal background check. Some programs I found do not require a high school diploma or GED.  Having a physical prior to starting the STNA classes shows if someone is capable of doing the tasks required of a STNA. Being up to date on vaccinations protects not only the patient, but the caretaker. At my program site, they gave a TB test if someone needed it. TB stands for tuberculosis, an infection in the lungs. TB can be spread from person to person in the air. This TB test is a two-step process. A certified person will inject a needle into the surface of someone’s arm. Then in twenty four to forty eight hours the test will be read. If the injection site is bruised greater than 5 mm, the test will be considered positive. If the TB test comes back positive, someone’s STNA classes will be put on hold. TB can be spread very easily, which could put patients at risk for infection.  After all of that was completed, one is one step closer to becoming a STNA.

The STNA class itself requires at least seventy five hours of training with a minimum of sixty hours between the classroom and clinical experiences. In the classroom portion, we learned orally and hands on. Everyone in the class received a nursing assistant care guide. Every day we had assignments we were expected to complete. At the beginning of class, we would have a quiz over the previous night’s homework. One has to at least pass the all the quizzes with a seventy five percent or that could automatically drop someone from the program. We also received twenty five skills, including hand washing, abdominal thrust, ambulation, applying stocking, output of bedpan/fracture pan, denture care, dressing resident, emptying a urinary drainage bag, feeding, hair care, making an occupied/unoccupied bed, mouth care, nail care, partial bed bath, perinatal care, positioning resident, range of motion, transfer from both bed to wheelchair, vest restraint, viral signs, and weighing an ambulatory resident. We practiced all of these skills over the course of the STNA classes. In my specific training class, Fridays is when the clinical portion of my class took place. My STNA program only took three weeks, seven am to three pm Monday through Friday days. After the program was completed, I first became a CNA. CNA stands for certified nursing assistant.

D&S is the Ohio STNA certification headquarters to become certified. After completing the STNA classes, the class instructor will send proof that one successfully completed the STNA classes.  To become a STNA, there is a multiple-choice written test and a preforming skills portion. The written portion will have seventy nine multiple choice questions that one must complete in ninety minutes. During the STNA class, there are twenty five skills which the students learned. In preforming the hand on skills portion, there will be five skills that will be tested in no more than thirty five minutes. One of the five skills will be hand washing. If one safety step is missed, one would automatically fail the hands on portion. An example of a safety step would be locking the bed or wheelchair wheels before trying to move a patient. The states give a person three times to pass both the written and hands on test.

In conclusion, there are many steps to receive the STNA certificate. However, this is a lifetime change. Depending on if someone is trying to pursue a nursing degree, they’re one step closer. Having a STNA certification is the foundation of the nursing degrees. Take what was learned in the STNA classes and apply it to everyday life.