Montoya 1

Aileen Montoya
Ron Bohannon
English 1010
4 July 2016
3460 S. 5600 W.
West Valley City Campus
Dear Bohannon
When people talk about higher education, they think of a good
paying job, ability to solve problems and the ability to communicate
with others but higher education is more than just a step toward your
career its also a way to developed and magnify a better you. I also
shared some quotes from the internet and from the reading in They
Say, I Say by Gerald Graff on the section: Is Higher Education Worth
The Price?

Montoya 2

Higher Education
What does higher education mean to me? I believe that higher
education is going to college or university after high school. In my
family I was taught that education is very important, that I could
always find ways to further my education and it would determine who I
would be in life. My mom wasnt able to attain a higher level of
education than middle school and my father got his masters in
business admiration from BYU so it is a big deal in my family. He has
always said he would have made so much more money if he did have
his college degree.
Although I know some people may think differently that they can
still be as educated from reading books and get a good job without
going to college or even being a the owner of their own company. Well
Plato said, No one can be trusted to think straight in large matters
who has not been educated to reason and argue straight (Plato 533).
Gerald Graff also said, Learning how to live: how to be an informed
and involved citizen, how to communicate effectively, how to
understand other cultures and people how to think and reflect (Graff
177). Meeting others from distant places with diverse backgrounds
gains the awareness that nearness to diversity it gives you a broader
world view, cultural understanding, and sophistication, another
justification for a higher education. I believe that both of this cant not

Montoya 3
be achieve without having post-school because the circle of knowledge
is limited from the circle of that would have expanded going to college
or a university.
Another reason that someone may thing that college is not worth
it is the money that goes in to education. To me higher education is
worth the price, I feel like if was provided free it wouldnt be valued as
much as it is now but we would have fewer problems in the world if
there were more people with higher-level education. Liz Addison said,
The community colleges of America cover the country college by
college and community by community they offer a network of
affordable future, of accessible hope, and an option to dream. For some
students, from many backgrounds, would never breathe the college
experience if it were not for the community college (Addison 214). I
believe that there is not excuse if you really have the desire to further
your education and with the advent of the Internet, its now easier than
ever to find different ways to pay for college. For example scholarship
and grant can decrease the necessity for loans to finance your
education
Sanford J. Ungar said, This is a country where a mixed-race child
raised overseas by a struggling single mother who confronts
impossible odds can grow up to be president. It is precisely a liberal
education that allowed him to catch up and move ahead (Ungar 193).
Tomas Jefferson said, Everybody should have an education

Montoya 4
proportional to their life. How this quote comes across to me is that if
you want to have abundant and comfortable lifestyle you need to be
educated and that it is all up to you to achieve and put effort into. This
country gives you the opportunity to be whatever you what to be you
just have to want it bad enough.
Previously talked about general perceptions of other people
about higher education. The quotes I shared before may have meant
something completely different like David Foster Wallace wrote, The
exact some experience can mean two totally different things to two
different people, give those peoples two different belief templates and
two different ways of constructing meaning from experience (Wallace
200), like this quote for character analysis here is a great word to
describe it its called Sophrosyne defined in Wikipedia as, Ancient
Greek concept of an ideal of excellence of character and soundness of
mind, which when combined in one well-balanced individual leads to
other qualities, suck a temperance, moderation purity, and selfcontrol. Everyone has their own experiences that make them who
they are and how they think and if someone thinks college or
university is a waste of time then thats fine if they are really doing
something better with that time.
In conclusion no other asset can lead to so many different
positive outcome that can improve your overall life condition than
getting a higher education.

Montoya 5

Work Cited
Graff, Gerald Is higher education worth the price? They Say / I Say
177. Is

higher education

worth the price?

Graff, Gerald The New Liberal Art by Sanford J. Ungar, They Say / I
Say 193. Is

higher education

worth the price?

Graff, Gerald, Kenyon Commencement Speech by David Foster
Wallace, They

Say / I Say 200. Is

higher education worth the price?

Graff, Gerald Two Year Are Better Than Four by Liz Addison, They
Say / I Say
214. Is higher education worth the price?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophrosyne last modified: March 16,
2016 Date
2016
Plato Republic, Book 7, 533
Thomas Jefferson

retrieved June 24,