In the reading of the article, "Some Lessons From the Assembly Line," the author, Andrew

Braaksma, describes the differences between the hard, laborious employment of a factory
worker to the leisure life of a college student. He writes of how difficult the day-to-day, early
morning rigorous work is so different from the late morning classes and writing papers.
Throughout the article, the author learns of the importance of a college education and how his
life may have been different had he not attended college.

After reading and analyzing the article, I intend to prove, through several points, that the
daily life of a factory worker that works twelve hour days is much more difficult than the
everyday experiences of a full-time college student. I believe that this statement is correct in
the aspect of employment as a full-time employee at a factory. This job is a result of the
difficult tasks and long, hot days that they endure each day. One statement that made at the
beginning of the material backs up the claim. The writer states, "Sweating away my summers
as a factory worker makes me more than happy to hit the books." (Braaksma 17). In this
statement, the author emphasizes the theory that a factory employee's work is much harder
than the work of a college student. This statement sets the tone of the article. He begins to
understand the value of a college education.

I have found several vital points to substantiate the claim that factory work is difficult
compared to a college student's life. In my first point, getting up early and spending extended
hours per day in a place where there is little to no air conditioning to cool you down, makes
for a long day. The job consists of repetitive motions.

The writer states, "For a student like me who considers any class before noon uncivilized,
getting to the factory each morning by 6 o'clock each morning, where rows of hulking, spark-
showering machines have replaced the lush campus, and cavernous lecture halls of college
life are torture." (Braaksma 17).

In this statement, he refers to factory work as early morning grind being something difficult
for him. With the work of a factory employee, it is loud, and the sparks flying from the metal
grinding flying around him make the factory hot. Factory work is a vast difference than the
quiet morning of a college student that wakes up at noon to attend a quiet, air-conditioned
class.

The writer also speaks about feeling guilty while working at the factory, which brings me to
my second point. He only spends two months out of the year working at the factory while
some of his coworkers have been working there for thirty years. He learns how hard the
grueling hours and how hard the work is. In the article, he writes of the fellow employees he
meets in the factory. They give him some advice about what it means to dedicate yourself to
the kind of job that requires much from your body.

One worker tells him, "This job pays well, but it is hard on the body." (Braaksma 17). This
job takes its toll on the body with aches and pains.

Thirty years of this work will gradually wear down parts of the body. It usually tells
repetitive, back-breaking work. Most factory workers see this as another part of the job.

My final point is that through his experiences working at the factory, the author has a glimpse
of what his life might have been had he not gone to college and instead went straight into the
workforce.
Braaksma writes, "Higher education always seemed like a foregone conclusion: I never
questioned if I was going to college, just where. No other options ever occurred to me."
(Braaksma 17).

He has learned that he is blessed to have the opportunity to receive an education that most
people are not able to get. He has also learned how times are changing in the factory
industry. With the rise of technology and the low wages in other countries, a factory position
can disappear in no time. Searching for jobs that are slowly vanishing from the United States
without and education may result in a lower paying job.

With the early mornings, hot days, sparks flying around, rigorous, repetitive work, and long
hours with little pay, the easy-going, daily aspects of a college student seems so much easier.
The quiet mornings meandering to a class in air-conditioned to write a paper or take a quiz
appears much more relaxed. Who can argue that waking up at noon is more stringent than a 6
in the morning requirement to be to work on time?

Getting a college degree will help increase your chances of a better paying, less stressful job.
You will be more apt to find a career that you want to have versus a job you have to do.