Ken Saxon What Do You Do With A B A In History Summary

Think of college: 8:00 am classes, shoes designated for frat parties, horrible campus food, and after four years, maybe more if you go for a victory lap, a neat little diploma certifying you to go out into the world and the workforce. However, starting college and determining what you want to do in life can be daunting. In his speech, “What Do You Do with a B.A. in History?”, Ken Saxon gives advice to freshman at University of California, Santa Barbara regarding how they should approach their time in college. Saxon is effective at using counter arguments to address opposition to going to college with the purpose of exploring interests and going into the liberal arts because he is aware that his audience is new college students coming of age …show more content…
These are freshman that are going through a huge transitional period in their lives. Many are living away from home, perhaps for the first time, in a place that is wholly new and unfamiliar. These students are also likely questioning their decisions. They may not know if they have chosen the right major or college or even if college is right for them. Saxon acknowledges this when he states that “tons of young people head off to college- record numbers in the last decade- without really thinking about why, and what they want out of it.” He is aware that this is a time when young persons may start to think about what interests them most and what they want to do, but they may not understand why they have come to college or if it was even the right choice for them. Saxon also knows that these freshman are dealing with the aftermath of the Great Recession of 2008. From 2008 to 2013, “wages declined for the bottom 70% of all workers." Additionally, there was an “increase in the number of jobless persons to 205 million by the end of 2009, …show more content…
Saxon addresses the uncertainty of the general college student population. Saxon says, “Supposedly, according to the data, your income will be higher, you’ll be more likely to have a successful marriage, and more likely to like a happy life.” This is what young persons have drilled into them. It is implied that if they do not go to college, they will not be successful in life. However, Saxon adds that “tons of young people head off to college- record numbers in the last decade- without really thinking about why, and what they want out of it.” Young people have this pressure to go to college, but do not truly know what to do once they get there. Saxon acknowledges the fact that the students in front of him may have no idea what they want out of life. The students are therefore more inclined to trust his argument because he is appealing to their desire to be doing the right thing and be going down the right life path. Saxon goes onto say that the purpose of college is to “[discover] who you are, what you’re passionate about, and what’s important to you, and what doesn’t interest you in the slightest.” Not only has Saxon normalized the doubts and questions of his uncertain audience, he has given them a purpose. Saxon recognizes that part of why they are so uncertain and insecure in their decisions is that they do not understand