I work with high school students - many of whom would prefer not to be spending their days in school, particularly not in my math class. As a math teacher, I often get the question, "Why do I have to learn this?" or the closely-related "When am I ever going to use this?" I have a lot of examples of how math can apply to life outside the classroom - stories of how a simple application of the Pythagorean theorem saved me a lot of money when I was ordering materials for my deck, math questions I fielded from my husband when he was doing carpentry and construction, and many other stories from my own experience.
I thought I had a great story about a woman I met on a snowshoeing trip who said she used algebra in her job every day - she was a family practice lawyer. When I shared this story with my students, however, the response was something along the lines of "So? I'm not planning on being a lawyer." So much for my great story. What I finally landed on as an answer to the universal "Why do I have to learn this" question was "You learn it to keep your options open." Nearly every college has a math requirement for graduation, and if you come in with below-par math skills, you might have to take - and pay for - 2 or 3 math classes before you even get to one that counts.
It recently occurred to me that this same logic applies to the question "Why should I go to college?" Some of the students I work with have not had enjoyable experiences with school, and the last thing on their mind is signing up for and spending a lot of money on another 4 or more years of school. Many of the traditional reasons to encourage students to go to college have to do with money - how much more money they're likely to make with a college degree. There's more to it, however, than simple financial gain. Not only are college graduates likely to earn more money, they are less likely to be unemployed than non-graduates. In addition to the financial benefits, a college degree gives you access to a wider variety of career options - increasing the likelihood that you will end up with a job you enjoy doing. And that is worth more than any financial gain.
So why should you go to college? To keep your options open and give you the freedom to pursue your dreams.
For more reasons on why attending college is a good idea, visit KnowHow2Go.
