Wednesday, November 23, 2011

How Does the Future Look From High School?

It's not often that a major newspaper asks high school students what they think, so when I saw this item in The New York Times I thought I'd pass it along.  Fifteen high school seniors answered the following questions:

  • What are the pressures on students at your high school? 
  • What are 18-year-olds in your hometown expecting from their careers?
The article ends this way: "We hope readers, from high school seniors to senior citizens, will respond in comments: What are the pressures on students at your high school? What are 18-year-olds in your hometown expecting from their careers?"

If you'd like to answer please comment to this post.  I will forward as a batch around 2:00 P.M. tomorrow.

6 comments:

  1. Right now, I'm applying to universities and researching my financial aid options. Once I hear back from those universities, I can decide where I'm going. (Hopefully, at least one of them accepts me).

    During the few summer months before the Fall, I plan on traveling with some friends, and then it's off to college. I'm planning on double-majoring: Criminology and Philosophy.

    After college, I plan on going to Quantico. The FBI academy. I want to become an FBI special agent, but the ultimate goal is to eventually work as a Criminal Profiler. If for some reason, none of this works out, Im just hoping that Criminology and Philosophy will take me somewhere that I want to go.

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  2. What are the pressures on students at your high school?
    What are 18-year-olds in your hometown expecting from their careers?

    The pressures on students at my high school are different, depending on who you ask. If you as my tennis coach, it's to excel physcialy. If you ask my band director it's to help run the program, if you ask my English teacher, it's to keep expanding my limits of thinking past what has previously been done. Those are only the pressures on students that are involved activities, and actively invovled in trying to better themselves, and their life.

    An 18 year old from my home town is not from the same place as I am. An student from my hometown in Missouri can expect to go to a small 2-year or small state 4-year college. They would probably major in business, or mathmatics, and change their major 50 times before settling on something. Most expect to go back to their hometown. Or somewhere like their hometown. It seems they are satisfied with the life they had before.

    I expect more. Much more. I expect to travel, and to see the world. I am not satisfied with going back to Missouri, or staying in one place, unless I love what I'm doing. I cannot settle for anything. I expect to go far in whatever I do, simply because I want to, and because I know I can. I don't know quite what I want yet, but I know I will do well.

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  3. What are the pressures on students at your high school? What are 18-year-olds in your hometown expecting from their careers?"

    Like previously mentioned, the pressure depends on who you ask. College bound seniors are stressed with getting acceptance letters, scholarships, financial aid, as well as choosing the right school. Yet, in comparison, I believe that a huge thought on every seniors mind is what path they will take after high school, to begin their life; considering that your choices affect your life style.
    I have heard a wide range of career choices. Whether they decide to join armed forces, go to a community college, 4-year school, or even join the peace core. The path I have chosen to follow is to attend a 4-year university and study to become a hard hitting broadcast journalist like Diane Sawyer or Lisa Ling. I also expect to study political science. I wish to use this power to help disenfranchised people around the world, and inspire them to reach for their goals!

    Rebecca Patterson. Period 6.

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  4. 1) From my perspective, I think the main pressure especially for seniors is figuring out “life after high school.” Basically deciding what we want to do and where we want to go. For instance, “money”. Maybe trying to come up with enough grants and scholarships so we have less to pay back, desperately trying to find a job,--good grades can also determine where we go. Yet, honestly, answers will vary based on who we ask. But I think the average overview all leads up to the big picture “our future.” Generally what we do now will depict how our future will turn out.

    2)I’m not really sure what 18yr old's hope to get out of from their careers, but I’m thinking it could maybe be either one of two: they’re still a senior in high school and working and hoping to save up money to go to college or have just graduated and are currently going to a community college while working in hopes to transfer over. Or they could simply just be content with where they are, how they’re doing, and maybe don’t really have any hard-driven intentions of going back to school or pursuing anything further.

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  5. I think they aren't expecting enough of kids in America. We tend to get babied and get accustomed to it.
    Kids are getting told that if they don't go to college they are going to be flipping burgers. This kids don't realize that maybe, just maybe they will HAVE to too support themselves and maybe a family by "flipping burgers".
    We need to quit telling kids they will never have to have an entry level job if they go to college. Life is about hard work, and a job just doesn't happen most the time. They might major in something that is going down the economic drain, how are they going to make money then? They were told if they stay in school the burger grill is going to be a million miles away, but really? Is it?

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  6. Forget the "too" in the second paragraph

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