Scholarships

Scholarships are very important tools that we as students need to learn to take advantage of. First of all, college does help greatly with financial aid. College is a lot more expensive now than it used to be, and scholarships are a great way to earn some of that cost. The amount of money that families can afford to contribute to their student's college has declined. $5,000 is found to be the most that some families can contribute to their child's education outside of school, which is barely enough to cover textbooks for four years. The cost of apartments, food, books and supplies has also risen to very expensive prices. Many states have made large cuts in public funding, like higher education. This is one of the reasons that collages have increased tuition, which increases the amount of money that students now have to spend. The last reason, and maybe the most important reason, is that college debt is not something that students should go into. One quarter of the US population owes a total of $700 billion in student loan debt. Debt is a very bad thing to have, emotionally, physically and relationship wise. If people have student debt, then they are going to feel trapped to work off the debt at a job which is going to put stress on them both physically and emotionally. Also, if people are being forced to work than they cannot settle down and have a family which will effect their relationships. Scholarships will help to eliminate some of this debt.

Reflection Blog

1.)The things that I have left to do in order to complete high school are to;

• Complete my last year of High school. (I must obtain all of my required credits in order to move on to college.) {2015-2016}
• Take my ACT {Summer of 2015}
• Obtain recommendation letters for the colleges that I wish to attend {2016}
• Write a required essay with a provided prompt {2016}

2.) I am academically where I need to be. My GPA and class rank are satisfactory and will allow me to get in to a good college. I take all AP and Pre-AP classes, except for English and History which I take Dual Credit for.

3.) I feel as though these colleges are really the ones for me. I could change the last one, I would rather not go there, but I feel as if it's a good option right now. I suppose that I could modify my search if needed, and I probably will. I have put a fair amount of research into all of these colleges, as well as visited them all.

School Systems of America and Iceland

The United States has it's residents attend school for a longer amount of time than Iceland does. America's students attend grade school from the ages of 5 to 18. Iceland has their residents attend school from ages 6 to 16. America's students have a better knowledge of many things in general, but Iceland had many people who specialize in their field of work. They graduate early from their form of "high school" so that they can start schooling for exactly what they want to do. Iceland offers their students more time in order to become really good at a certain job. However, they have to know immediately what they want to do at the age of 16. America offers a wider range of job opportunities. For instance, they provide more time for students to decide on a career and they allow for career changes. There is an infinitely larger number of  universities in the U.S. than there are in Iceland, which provides more career opportunities for America's residents. I think that there are pros and cons to both school systems, and I think that  both systems are satisfyingly effective. 

Is College Worth It?

I do think that college is worth the time and money that many people spend in order to obtain a degree and knowledge. Many jobs in modern times will hire someone who has a college degree over someone who has more experience. You can acquire higher-level jobs, hence higher-paying jobs, when you have a college degree. The time and energy that you put into college will eventually be repaid through your job. College is a very vast place where people are constantly learning more about the world around them. You learn how to live on your own in college. For most people, learning how to balance classes and a job is a difficult experience that makes you stronger and you eventually reap the benefits. If you acquire a high paying job for your high paying degree, than all of the money that you put into your degree will be paid back to you. If you want to pursue a career in which it does not provide a lot of money, than it should be worth it to you to pay for the schooling in order to do what you love. It is becoming increasingly difficult in today's society to get a job without obtaining a college degree beforehand. There are schools that you can go to that offer the same education as well known schools that are for cheaper. There are ways to go through college without debt if that is a concern. College graduates generally have better interpersonal skills, have a longer lifespan, and have healthier children, physically and mentally. If a child is born into a family in which both of him/her parents are both college graduates, they have a better likelihood of also attending college and obtaining a degree. I do think that a college degree is worth it both economically and socially. People who have college degrees have proven their ability to achieve major milestones and experience success.