At Brighton High in Boston, for the first time this year, John Travers, the head of counseling, and his staff visited every freshman English class to begin mapping out the steps toward college: Maintaining a high grade point average. Taking tough classes. Building a résumé.
When I was in high school, these sort of "prep-sessions" were not all that uncommon, yet, when I read about fifteen-year-olds needing to "build a resume," it makes me wonder if this is actually necessary. And I don't post this because I think it is right or wrong, but rather, possibly, because I find myself in this same quandary. The article highlights the steps schools are taking in response to a society in which a high school diploma no longer earns you a ticket into middle-class. I can't help but wonder, if this is our state today, what will it be tomorrow? By the time these high school freshmen make it to college, will they need a graduate degree to make their way into middle class?
Another emphasis in the article is on the financial necessity of a college education (which, in some ways, seems a bit ironic). There isn't a lot of emphasis on encouraging students to pursue a degree for the sake of making a difference in a hurting world or doing what they really want to do-- the point of a college degree is to maintain a lifestyle above a certain level of income, as one student says, “I want a whole lot more. I want to be financially stable. I don’t want to be struggling on $30,000 a year."
And true, as another student quotes his parents, "money makes the world go round," I'm just not sure if this is what matters most. What about sending the message to students that they are valuable and acceptable regardless of their educational level, income, or resume (which they've been compiling since they were fifteen).
