Blog Prompt #7: To be or not to be: Educated
Many of us spend years going
through school. But, the people who work at McDonald’s end up getting paid
better than someone fresh out of college? Why go through all those years of
school when you can just walk into McDonald’s and apply for a job that doesn’t
even require a high school diploma?
Job guarantee. With
McDonald’s, anyone is basically guaranteed a job if they apply. I have known
many people who I went to high school with who have walked out of McDonald’s
with a job, once they’ve applied. It’s an easy way in to fast cash; much easier
than finding a solid job after college.
I received my bachelor’s
degree in journalism and after four years of studying to become a journalist, I
don’t reside in a position at a newspaper or publishing company. I hit many
dead ends and that became quite discouraging pretty quickly. They say college
is the way to go, but why does working at McDonald’s seem more appealing?
Decent pay. McDonald’s
employees are now making $15 an hour. That is better pay than what I receive
right now working as a dog walker, and my job requires a lot more skill and
professionalism.
McDonald’s reason for paying
their employees $15 an hour is because the employees need to support their
families. What about all the people who have spent their life going through
school and turn up jobless after graduation?
Is McDonald’s the answer to
living a struggle-free life? Or does it not matter because people who graduate
college are usually young and have no one to support, but themselves? Well
that’s not true! Now-a-days, more and more people from my parents’ generation
are deciding to go back to school because they believe it will better, not only
their future, but their family’s future.
Who’s going to support those
people’s families when they graduate college with no job offers?
After years of colleges
sucking money out of everyone’s pocket, make sure to expect to live in that
debt for many years. Working at McDonald’s doesn’t seem half bad now, does it?
You’ll get benefits!
If you work at McDonald’s,
not only do you receive $15 an hour, you’ll get a variety of benefits. As a
McDonald’s employee, you can get insurance benefits, retirement benefits, and
vacation benefits. A college graduate would be lucky if they received those
kinds of benefits coming right out of college at a job that requires their
qualifications.
People say college will
better anyone’s future, but why spend all that time if you could just walk
across the street and fill out a job application at McDonald’s? Yes, college
will teach you things about yourself that you never knew because I know I have
learned a lot about myself because I went through college, but it is really
worth it to learn all these deep, dark secrets about yourself if you’re just
going to struggle in the end?
Who knows, maybe people go
to college because they are embarrassed to say they work at McDonald’s. They’ll
feel more entitled. They feel they can do better than that by going through
school, but a decent pay, various benefits, and job guarantee can look quite
appealing, especially if you just graduate college and you’ve hit a road block.
So instead of having money
drained out of your pocket to end up jobless, McDonald’s has an opening.
Colleges need to work harder at helping their graduates land a solid job once
they finish, or everyone is just going to end up working over at McDonald’s,
which appears to be a much better option than leaving college with no offers.
Would you rather be educated
or have the money to support your family?
Hunter! You don't know how much I related to your topic and your point of view. It is astonishing how you can go through a whole four year education just to end up not being able to receive nothing more than a job offer that pays maybe a few dollars more than minimum wage. It makes you re-think is going off to get further education just to be in more debt really worth it. You also are able to see how many of your former classmates who didn't pursue further education are in a better job position than you because they instead went straight into working and didn't go the college route. I know there is always the saying that college is the way to go, its always nice to challenge yourself and further your education, but once you are hit with the reality that years after graduation you are still unable to get a career in your field it does make your question very striking and the real correct answer gets a bit blurry.
ReplyDeleteYes, a college education is not a guarantee of a job. That is certain. But it has other rewards. Like, for instance, giving you the opportunity to figure out what you want to do with your life, to reflect on your values and goals, to think about what really matters to you and to ponder the very nature of existence itself. Beyond that there is the reward of knowledge itself, of following your curiosity where it leads you. When you are working-- say, at McDonalds or at a factory or as a UPS delivery person-- you often lack the leisure to do these things. Of course, I am a college professor. What else would you expect me to say?
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