College Education and Its Impact

¶ … College Education and Its Impact The purpose of the present paper is to discuss a very important decision, namely the one of choosing to get a college education and its impact. As supportive insight we will use theories and information from Jon Witt's book, "The big picture:A sociology primer.." In this book the author attempts to explain what society is.

In order to do that he discusses themes such as the status of the individual, the relationships which the individual develops with society, the manner in which the social environemnt where we live impacts our way of being, influencing our values, beliefs and behavior. Just as the writer declares, his ultimate goal was to help the reader realize the manner in which the world influences us.

In addition, he wanted to provide a useful guide for the attempt to do better within the realms of social life (thinking taht this goal can be achieved once one has succeeded to understand why we think and act the way we do). As far as the decision to go to college is concerrned, it is viewed by the author as a fundamental step in an individual's life.

Just like most importand decisions we take, this too is influenced by society and is likely to influence the rest of our lives. This happens because education is one of the instruments through which social status is constructed. In other words, the higher the level of education that one gets, the bigger the opportunity to get a better job and hence, the better the chances to create a status that will be socially acceptable. Social life, according to the writer, has a very strong symbolical dimension.

Therefore, social status is to be translated into terms of power, privilege and place. Education is one of the main factors which influence them. Nevertheless, the decision to go to college or not is not a simple one and there are various other factors which influence it. One of them is the presence or absence of the financial resources required in this regard. Another one is represented by the long-term importance that actual work experince might have.

Some might choose to get a job instead of going to college, believing that in this manner they will get more relevant experience, learning from doing instead of learning from books. The individual's value is intrinsic, but society often does not seize it. This means that the individual has to wear the social mask in order to be well integrated (the social "mask" serving as a sort of identification code). The social position that one has serves as a tool which allows his positioning within the bigger system.

Through it he or she will be judged and evaluated and based on the results of this evaluation the others at their turn will position themselves. Under these circumstances, it is easier to understand the importance of a college education, but also the pressure which the social environment puts upon the individual in this direction. All in all, it can be stated that social position is.