1 Zach Baca

Writ 1133
4-23-2011
Hill

Why go to college? Inside the mind of a Fraternity man

What motivates students to attend a school that costs nearly an arm

and a leg? The real question in this case is why do students attend college?

After 12 years of schooling, these students want to go to the next four years

which is much more difficult. First off, I applaud these students for

furthering their education, however I can’t help but wonder the simple

question to ask but the difficult one to answer; that is why? Why go to

school for another 4-7 years? That is what I am trying to find out a little

more about.

Students are the most interesting group of people because they

don’t know what they are doing exactly. It’s like they are learning to ride a

bike again with every class that they take. The professor always starts off

relatively slow, talking about what they need to do to get through the class,

the syllabus. The syllabus is like the training wheels. The instructor doesn’t

just throw you on two wheels and tell you to ride around the block. Teachers

are around guiding you until the day comes when you don’t need or can’t

have them anymore, mainly the second day when they don’t take off the

training wheels. This is the point where the instruction starts and the up-hill
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both ways battle, in the snow begins. Students put themselves through the

most frustrating times of their academic lives, up to this point, during finals,

exams and term papers. They stress out while they are writing the big paper,

they freak themselves out trying to be the teacher’s pet and get A’s on

everything. Though, once the class is over the grade comes then its over, just

like that; 10-15 weeks just for a single letter. There is so much input for such

a small output. CU Boulder did this research on undergraduate students

nearly 12 years ago in 1999. Their research said that all students said the

following: they cannot find a job, they have nothing else to do, they are not

ready for the real world, its fun, they want a degree, love learning,

interesting in area of study, and they need a job. The following quotation

has statistics that are relevant to the question at hand:

Nearly two-thirds (63%) of all students mentioned gaining skills and

knowledge for a job, graduate school, or later in life as an important

reason for attending college. Over half (54%) mentioned needing a

degree to get a good job or get into graduate school, and nearly half

(49%) mentioned that they expected college to help them become a

"better, more educated person." There were no dramatic differences in

reasons for attending college across the different class levels.

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A job is an idea that comes up for any reason that the students give for

coming to college. Students are just going to school to be able to get a job or

get a better job. Although according to Ronald Standler in his article of why

students attend college published in 2001, he states that just because one

person has higher of an education that another doesn’t mean that they are

going to get paid more. For example, he claims that; a postman who delivers

letters (only a high-school education) can earn more money than a

schoolteacher with a Master's degree. This might be the case for some

teachers but the national average salary for a teacher is 43,000 dollars

whereas the national average for postmen is 36,000 dollars. Most postmen

only have a high school diploma whereas most teachers have nothing less

than a Masters degree in education as well as a bachelors in whatever area

they are studying.

In order to collect the data that I needed, I gave a questionnaire to my

fraternity brothers. Those who felt compelled to answer did, the opposite for

those whom didn’t feel like answering. The questions that I asked were

about the background of college in their lives. I asked if their parents and

grandparents went to college, I wanted to know if their siblings go or are

going to college in the future. I asked what makes them want to go to college
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as well as when they realized they wanted to attend college. These questions

were aimed to find out the reasons behind their choice to get a degree and go

to a place of higher education. I sent out my questionnaire to my fraternity

brothers because I believe that we all have a reason for being here. We are

not just going to college for no reason or because our parents want us to. I

also asked what if anything they wanted to be when they were younger.

Most people had higher aspirations than what they are doing now, or they

are on their way to do exactly what they wanted to be when they were

younger. We are a motivated group of students and citizens of the United

States. These people I felt were the most qualified to answer my questions,

also we have so many brothers that I knew I would get a decent number of

responses.

Eleven questions were asked to the brothers of my fraternity, which

will remain unnamed to the public for the sake of research. When asked the

question of what their dream was when they were younger, people said

many different answers; the top answer however was lawyer. The others,

included biologist, racecar driver, pilot, in a band as well as Power Ranger.

These answers provoke the thought of what drives these student to be in

school when they could be flying planes driving, fast cars or even making

tons of money making records. The questions continued, about parents doing
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to college, out of the 10 people to send me back answers 2 of them said that

their parents didn’t go to college. The other eight, their parents went to

schools including The University of New Mexico, UC-Berkeley, Rutgers

and CU Boulder . These colleges ranging from public schools to the higher

end of education, showing that they had great education; meaning that they

would want their children to go to as good of a school or better than them.

Five out of the nine said their grandparents went to school as well. This

means that the tradition of going to school has been passed down from

generation. This comes into play with another question that I asked, their

siblings; for the 6 that have siblings they are all in, out or going to college in

the future. Their families expect that they would just go to college because it

is what their parents did, for generations. I also asked what external factors

attributed to the students attending college, the answers were the same

throughout, and most mentioned that their parents expect that they attend

higher education. Others stated that they look up to their parents and want to

please them with what they do with their lives. Meaning that college is the

way to prove to their parents that they are doing, or trying to do something

with their lives. I wanted to know what they think they would be doing

without school in their lives. There was a major difference in this area;
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answers varied from working a dead end job and hating it, to working in the

porn industry. Some people would try to make something out of their lives

instead of doing that; there was one person who said he would be in the

police academy, or in the military. I wondered, if these are goals that people

have, i.e. military, policeman, pilot, why not go for those dreams? I asked,

why come to college then? Most people are focused on the future, getting a

great job where they make money, as well as do what they love; still making

the old man happy in the process. School is important to these men, ranking

it no less than top five in their lives. I was interested in learning when these

men made this decision to come to college. For the most part, they said that

it was always, they never had any other plans, and it was expected of them.

They just thought that everyone goes to college after high school because

it’s the only way to get a good job. Others said that it was in elementary that

they made the decision to attend college.

The answer to my research topic is a little clearer to me, I

wanted to know what motivates college students on their goal of reaching

their degree. I found that these answers changed my thoughts from ideas to

data. I realized that people actually want to go to school, for many reasons.

Either their parents taught them that are what happens in life, or they

realized that by getting a degree they could make the money that they need
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for life. Money unfortunately creates a state of being safe and “happy”.

Although there are many other factors that attribute to the happiness of a

person money is what drives most people to go to college. Hoping that by

going to school longer they can do what they want to do with their lives,

since their dreams of being Power Rangers to journalists and dentists;

obviously more realistic careers. College is a place to realize what it is a

person wants to do with their life. It is the haven for realism and a place to

get out of the constraints of the parents to where the students can find out

what it is they really love and are passionate about. 50% of the men I asked

questions to changed their major in the course of their short time here. This

means that they grow up faster without the influence of their parents either

breathing down their neck or just having them around. College students

grow up as well as become independent while they are in college. It is a

process that happens quickly however we cannot see it because of the busy

schedule acquired here at the University level. Even though we all are

different and have different ideas of why we came to college, all that matters

now is reaching that goal and getting that diploma. College is about growing

as a person and an academic, person first. In order to create a world where

people stand up and do what needs to be done, first, there must be some
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responsibility on their shoulders. In college is where this comes first for

most people, mommy and daddy aren’t telling you what to do, and teachers

don’t hold your hand through the class pushing their students when they get

stuck, well maybe in office hours. But the student still has to get out there

and make that effort to talk to their professor. College molds the person that

a student will be for their careers and in their personal lives, it brings out the

work ethic that a student really has and challenges it. If there is a will there

is a way my mother always told me and if students have the will they will

get on the way to becoming whatever it is they are inclined on becoming. I

believe that college isn’t about grades, quizzes or tests. College is about

becoming a stronger critical thinker, and figuring out how to act in public for

those of us who don’t really want to grow up just yet. Don’t take college too

seriously; you’ll never get out alive.