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The True Value of a College Education

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The True Value of a College Education
Thesis for Essay: “The true value of a college education is much greater than receiving a paper degree; it represents hard work and perseverance.”

What types of personal examples can you use to support this claim?
What social/cultural/historical observations can you use to support this claim?
What hypothetical examples and/or parables can you use to support this claim?
Based on your examples, how might you extend this to articulate your own original thesis?

The true value of a college education is to improve myself, to become a role model for my family, and to be able to give back to my community.
Topic Sentence 1: Self-improvement overall
Topic Sentence 2: Self-improvement (inner growth)
Topic Sentence 3: To become a good role model for my family
Topic Sentence 4: To be able to give back to my community

“The true value of a college education is much greater than receiving a paper degree; it represents hard work and perseverance.

Topic Sentence 1: Self-improvement
Topic Sentence 2: Gain skills you can use for life.
Topic Sentence 3: To increase and expand opportunities.
Topic Sentence 4: Gain knowledge and confidence in yourself.

As soon as you graduate high school and enter the real world you have been preparing for, you realize what you do from now on is entirely up to you. Your choices, thoughts, and your mentality towards everything and anything shape can who you are or who you want to be. There are many reasons students want to accomplish and graduate from college, whether it’s for better income or just to make your resume look more attractive to potential employers. Each person strives for something different. But not everyone grasps that the true value of a college education is much greater than receiving a paper diploma, it represents hard work and perseverance.
Self-improvement is change for the better and always competing with yourself. During my first attempt at Miramar, I always asked why it was necessary to go to school, after all it is the most boring thing ever, and what’s the point? I had this illusion in my head that I didn’t need a college degree to make lots of money, as long as I was happy with whatever I was doing. But from observing and meeting different types of people and especially from successful graduates that possess such great qualities and skills, I realized that the money is only a plus, and that continuing school would be beneficial overall.
Along with increased knowledge, students also learn how to prioritize and become more responsible. College is structured for adults, meaning more freedom than high school or grade school. As David Foster Wallace stated “important realities are often the ones that are hardest to see and talk about”. Whether or not you choose to go to a party instead of studying for that big exam next week, students hopefully learn from their mistakes and prioritize what is important to them.

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