Eleanor Roosevelt: College Student Analysis

“People grow through experience if they meet life honestly and courageously. This is how character is built” ~ Eleanor Roosevelt. When I was in high school in the 1980’s, college was for the very academic students most of my high school classmates went on to a vo-tech school and trained to be mechanics, beauticians, plumbers, carpenters, electricians or joined the military. I was a good student and I was accepted into a college. I began college not having a clue what I wanted to study nor having the means to pay for it. School felt like I merely regurgitating information for a test which I saw no benefit from. While working full-time and taking classes in the evening I began to feel I was a hamster in a wheel. Since I was already working and was getting more fulfillment out of my job than I was getting in school. I chose to take a break from school believing I would return when I was more sure of what I wanted to study. The years turned into decades. I had the opportunities to try many new things. I started and ran a nonprofit business, raised 6 children, taught in a small private education center and have lived a very fulfilled life. I knew how to work hard, ask questions, try new things and was willing to fail trying. Yet all the while society was telling me I can’t succeed without a degree.
According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics between the 1980’s – 1990’s only 50-55% of High School students went on to college but since the 1990’s it has risen to as high as 70% but is now on the decline. Of the percentage that begins a college degree, only 57% complete the degree according to the 2015 National Standards of Education Statistics. After taking office, President Obama announced a $12 billion initiative to help millions of students earn a certificate