Hello again! Or just hello if you are not a returning viewer. In this post, I'm going to be discussing an article from AZ Central called Ducey: Why Arizona needs more college grads. I will be giving my thoughts on it as a fellow Arizonian and college student. Let's jump into it!
To start the article off Arizona's governor, Doug Ducey opens with "Less than half of Arizona's working adults have degrees or training beyond high school. We must fix that". And honestly speaking I can't help but agree.
Being in college now part-time and looking for a job part-time to help pay expenses is incredibly tough. Often times they look for people with experience in the field you are applying in or at least a diploma from high school. If it's difficult for me to get a simple job like a dishwasher or retail associate even after graduation from high school. I can only imagine what it is like for someone who is doing this for a career to support themselves.
I can almost confidently say I hate school. Not because I'm opposed to learning, I personally love learning and encourage others to go to school themselves. I just have my own reasons, problems, and history with it as to why I don't care for it personally. However, I am not ignorant and I know to survive in an increasingly competitive world, you need some sort of education outside of high school. So when Doug says, "...what we do know is a quality education remains the surest path to the American Dream. Our children’s futures, and the future prosperity of our state, depend on it". He is speaking truthfully as I am living through it. This era of you needing education outside the high school to even get one's foot in the door is brutal.
When Doug states, "The effort's goal: That 60 percent of Arizonans would have a college degree or certificate by 2030". I am absolutely on board and in fact, I think we should try to get it higher if anything, but one step at a time. I would love to have an associate's or better yet a bachelor's degree by the end of 2030 as most would I assume. But issues do arise with something like this, as to how we can and should go about it. College is getting increasingly expensive and even only taking two classes the cost came out to a total of about $530. I paid that out of pocket from the money I had saved up from my old job. The cost of two classes was painful enough, but for some people who take more than that, the cost must be insane. Scholarships definitely help and if someone is helped financially, even better. But for those paying it from their pockets is difficult and getting a degree or certificate can lead someone into debt.
I agree that "Arizonans must aim high when it comes to education". However, I think we should also be looking into why the numbers are so low, to begin with. I think it's more complicated than people not wanting to go and earn themselves a degree or certificate. Doug also says "...if we want our kids to be competitive, it’s going to take all of us..." but personally for me I don't dream of competition. If anything I am not a big fan of it, especially if it means that someone has to lose for me to win. I don't pride myself on something like that by pushing others down and out so I can climb. I really just want equal opportunities for everyone. For all to start at the same base level and then may everyone do their best work from there.
I will say I like how he does state he is a husband and a dad at the beginning and the end of the article. It makes me as the reader feel as though he is not coming from this as just an authority figure but rather as someone who is directly and indirectly affected by it. Someone who cares about their state and their children who are also living through it.
Overall, growing up I saw my mom rack up debt because of school and struggle to pay it off. While she is proudly graduated now as an engineer and is slowly paying it off, I do not wish to go down the same path. I do not want others to work themselves to the bone just to pay off debts and barely scrape by. The plan to increase education by 60% by 2030 if it means better income and less poverty, is something I can really get behind. I just feel it might need some more tuning in terms of hashing out the details as to how we go about this.
My closing statement is this, I like how he approaches this topic. By stating his position as a husband, father, and governor of Arizona he really helps me feel as though he is coming at this with a genuine perspective and concern. He also provides logical reasoning in terms of future jobs increasing expectations and requirements in education so it is only natural we as a state need to work towards meeting that. All in all, I think this is a good piece and I'm glad our governor is acknowledging this.
Thank you for reading and have a good day! <3
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