Appreciating the value of a college education

¶ … person only appreciates a great gift after that gift is taken away. This can true of a beloved person -- a man only realizes that he has met his heart's desire after his future wife leaves him for a time. This can true country -- a citizen only appreciates how great freedom and democracy can be when he or she sees how awful it is to live in a land that does not uphold such values. And this principle also true when reflecting upon the importance of obtaining a college education.

A embarked upon my first efforts in college with a mindset that was very similar to the attitude allowed me to pass through high school. I thought of learning as something one 'had' to do, not something that was a precious opportunity. I felt a sense of entitlement regarding my admission to college, and my subsequent attendance. Plus, I was distracted by home obligations I found more immediately pressing than my future objective of gaining an education. I assumed that getting a college diploma was something that just happened, rather than an achievement, so my attentions were focused in other, disparate directions. The culmination of my distractions and poorly focused attitude was that I was asked to withdraw in 2002.