Higher education has different meanings for different people. Higher education is similar to knowledge, where it depends on a person’s perspective and their circumstance. For the majority of people who live in the United States, higher education is earning a degree from college. I personally thought the same thing. I thought that earning a degree from college will be all you need to be identified as someone with a higher education. I was not aware of how crucial the application of the knowledge you have to your life will also determine your level of education. Reading these four articles: The Educated Person by Thomas B. Jones, Having a Degree and Being Educated by Edmund D. Pellegrino, The College Dropout Boom by David Leonhardt, and Job Search: Chance or Plan? By Mark R. Ballard explains the definition of higher education at a meaningful level.
The first two articles are good explanations of higher education. In the first article, The Educated Person by Thomas B. Jones, the question, “What is education” is asked. I was perplexed, unsure myself about the answer to the question. The author, Jones explains that he should have discovered the answer to this question while he was in college. He ends the article by describing what he could have done to find the answer, so that he could know” that becoming an educated person is part of a long-life process of learning, studying, reflection, experience and action.” After I read the article, I somewhat understood, education was more than just school. The next article, Having a Degree and Being Educated by Edmund D. Pellegrino dives in deeper and explains more about the meaning of education and what it means to be an educated person. Pellegrino emphasizes that it does not depend on the amount of information we have accumulated, it is how we use the knowledge we have, whether we should use our knowledge, and for what purpose. He stressed the importance of knowing how to apply your knowledge. These two articles clarify the meaning of higher education and the next two articles explain why we should strive for higher education.
In the College Dropout Boom by David Leonhardt, the attainment of higher education is discussed. Leonhardt explains that there is a struggle for students from lower class to finish four college; he discussed the attempts of universities trying to solve that problem, and emphasizes that students should aim and stay persistent to attaining a college degree. He presents the acknowledgement of achieving a college degree as a struggle, but his reasoning for students to stay in college is very persuasive; although it is indirect. Through his article, he conveys the message of students staying in college so that it can benefit them in the future because in the long run it will benefit them. The next article, Job Search: Chance or Plan? By Mark R. Ballard connects to all the other articles. It stresses the importance of knowing what to do while you are in college to benefit you and help you get a job in the career field of your choice. These two articles add more depth to the meaning of higher education.
From these articles I have a better understanding of higher education. These articles remind me of something I have always thought of, college is the first step. With the messages I have learned from these articles, I learn that college is the first step, but you must be persistent and you must do more than achieve a college degree; you must apply all that you learn and know.