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Andrew Braaksma's Some Lessons From The Assembly Line

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It is said the decisions one makes in their young adult years can greatly affect the path we set ourselves on. Senior year of high school is filled with decisions- what college to go to, or to even go to college? It is fallaciously believed that there is only one path. In the article, "Some Lessons from the Assembly Line" author Andrew Braaksma shares his experiences with summer jobs and the differences with college life. Throughout the article, he compares the paths between going to college and the blue-collar work force, while emphasizing the importance of education. While he seems to be stressing the significance of schooling, he also appears to be attempting to persuade young adult that choosing the college path is not only superior to the work force but easier. The author claims education is important; however, with a little insight of his college life that consists of sleeping in, watching sports, drinking beer, the author unintentionally shows his claim is more of a declaration that college is the easier path than the work force. …show more content…

It is my perception that the author portrays college as the easier route therefore education is important. I agree with the author that education is important; however, I disagree with the motives and reasoning behind the author coming to this conclusion. Education is valuable; however, claiming it to be superior because of the lack of difficulty level ultimately demeans the value of

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In Andrew Braaksma’s essay “Lessons from the Assembly Line” (Braaksma, 2005), he recalls his time as a free-spirited college student that moonlights as an automotive assembly plant worker during summer vacation. The essay shifts from his grueling experiences on the line to his easygoing life as a student, highlighting the disparity between the two worlds. Ultimately, he comes to a better understanding of the advantages he has in life while simultaneously recognizing that real-world experience is another useful form of education. The main points of Braaksma’s article are showcasing the life struggles of the average blue-collar worker and underscoring the importance of a formal education.

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Nowadays few people realize the value of education. In Andrew Brassksma’s essay,” Some Lessons from the Assembly Line,” describes how a college student understands the value of an education by working as a full-time blue-collar worker during the summer time. Often times, there are people without a proper education who are forced to take unstable and low-paying jobs to support themselves or family. But, many people who have access to education do not realize the privilege it is and often times take it for granted. In Andrew Brassksma’s essay,” Some Lessons from the Assembly Line”, he puts himself on the same level as other blue-collar workers, and this is significance to the author's purpose because he can appreciate his own situation to the

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Clearly, New Data say and Jacques Steinberg, author of Plan B: Skip College each highlight the advantages and disadvantages of earning a degree and the different options if you don’t want to attend. A college education is not the right choice for everyone, but college is worth it. David Leonhardt’s article supports the decision to attend college and earn a degree. He argues that college graduates struggle to find work

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The thought of life’s experiences, expectations, knowing where you are heading, and planning for the future may offer a clarifying perception. Individuals tend to believe to know what is expected without first experiencing expectation, always believing that life events are clear and concise. This is a challenge when maturing in life, and learning what you must do to excel. An article recently arose with lucidity of one’s concerns, oversights, and regards for insight into individual interpretations of the world. With that, Andrew Braaksma wrote an article titled "Some Lessons From the Assembly Line", and within shares epiphanies while working a summer job during his time at college.

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In a world where such uncertainty comes in to play regarding a college education and any other type of blue collar jobs, one college student speaks clearly on the hardship of factory work in "Some Lessons From The Assembly Line" by A. Braaksma (2005) This essay is about a University of Michigan student who has to work for his money for schooling purposes. In his essay, he describes the reasons he chose to work at a car manufacturing facility versus working for stores such as Gap (Braaksma, 2005). He stated: "I chose to do this work, rather than bus tables or fold sweatshirts at the Gap, for the overtime pay and because living at home is infinitely cheaper than living on campus for the summer." (Braaksma, 2005).

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While Leonhardt wrote mainly about financial worth of going to college, Matthews wrote about certain students’ mindset after high school and why going to college in this century is not as important. Although Matthews does understand the importance of a degree and how it pays off, he states that “many more workers today would have been better off not going to college at all.” Matthews states this due to the Annual Wage by Education chart that demonstrates the amount of money the 25th percentile of degree holders make compared to non-degree holders. Students don’t know their abilities and drop out of college because “the problem is the fact that students usually don’t have a great idea of how they are going to fare in college, or what sort of degree or career they will pursue.” Setting goals, and knowing the life that one wants to live will limit the college drop-out rate and increase the quantity of graduate students.

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The authors’ emphasis on “on average” is very effective at showing how their point makes sense and why it should be taken into consideration. I found the way that the authors focused on the minority more than the majority was skillfully effective at showing how some career paths do not require a college education and that the return in investment would not be worth the cost. Throughout their argument I found the writers to mostly use Logos and Ethos in their writing. The Logos is evident by the way they use statistics and the Ethos by how they state telling someone the only way to be successful is to go to college is a disservice. This is effective at making the reader think about how this should affect the decision of going to college and whether they should push someone to go to

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The author also says that it's difficult to get into a basketball career when there are too many players but with a careers people may get a job that their could be successful. The author’s point of view about this topic is that people should have a college degree even if their occupation doesn't require them to have one. As I noticed in the previous paragraph, college may be hard, but everybody can have the opportunity to get educated. Even if people don’t know what they want to do study in college, they study different subjects and latter can select a careers of their choice. in society college is significant because college requires a

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Throughout the essay, Charles Murray stresses the idea that college is the wonderland of finding oneself and to find the career that one would want to follow for the rest of their lives. “College is seen as the open sesame to a good job and a desirable way for adolescents to transition to adulthood. Neither reason is as persuasive as it first appears.” Murray, C (2008) Practically spoken, this is not normally the case. College is a fair amount of work, much more work than one would normally acquire through any course of a high school or secondary school setting.

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B. Traven’s short story “Assembly Line” is about a New York businessman named Mr. E. L. Winthrop and a Mexican-Indian. The writing goes into great detail, describing the way the Indian pursues his passion of basket-weaving and how degrading patrons bargain their way into a better deal than the fifty centavos, the equivalent of four cents, that the Indian asked for. While the Indian was never able to sell all of his baskets, he never stopped creating them. In the story, Mr. Winthrop meets the Indian at his hut, working hard to create more baskets. Winthrop purchases every last basket whilst inquiring about buying in bulk.

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College graduates have better job security and more job opportunities, which means they are more likely to have stable employment and earn a higher salary. Additionally, the quote highlights the importance of investing in education to reap rewards later in life. Therefore, attending college is an essential step in achieving success in the workforce and securing a better

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The general argument made by author Charles Murray in his article, “Are too many people go to college,” is that the college is not necessary for everyone. More specifically, the Murray argues that students who went to school should have learned the core knowledge they will learn in the college. He writes, “ K-8 are the right years to teach the core knowledge, and the effort should get off to a running start in elementary school” (236). In this passage, Murray is suggesting that start teaching the core knowledge in elementary school until high school is better than to spend money and more time to the college. It is not important to go to college.

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“Is College the best option why or why not discusses the controversial issue of whether college is important or not. On one hand, while some argue that college is very important. Stephanie Owens and Isabel Sawhill writers of article “Should Everyone Go to College” asserts that we may be doing a disservice by telling all young people that college is the best option. Owens feels that college may be of service to some people, but not the best option for everyone.

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In the article “ Why college isn’t( and shouldn’t have to be) for everybody” it states “For example, the emerging economy will need platoons of technicians able to install, service, and repair all the high-tech machinery filling up hospitals, offices, and factories.”(26) . “ Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.” They feel they are compelled to get a college degree because they’ve been told that it was necessary to get a college degree, some people also think that if you go to a four-year college everyone would look down to their nose if they don’t have a college degree.. “ I think everyone should go to college and get a degree and then spend six months as a bartender and six months as a cabdriver.

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Although college is stressful and time consuming , having your dream career, is a huge life achievement. Having a job isn’t the same as having a career “I've learned that making a 'living' is not the same thing as 'making a life”(Maya Angelou). If you sell yourself short by not going to college you’ll end up working just to make ends means not because it's what you enjoy doing, it's due to your family counting on it. Those who go to college will end up having a better future than those who don’t. I agree that going to college is more beneficial because my view on the topic states that in order to have a secure and clear future you must go to college.

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