Preparing for the FutureBy: Darius Elliott

Primeau, 4th Hour

GraduationHigh School Graduation is the beginning of the end of life as you know it.

Some believe it is a joyous occasion and some are deeply in sorrow, knowing from the fact that they are going to leave many things behind.

It’s a scary subject to think about and it can truly give you the BLUES, but it is apart of your experience of growing up, as many of our parents would tell us today.

College is the beginning of our own new life; our own American Dream!

Decisions! Decisions! Decisions!As anyone may know, any decision we make, especially about our future,

always comes with consequences. These can be added stresses, that come with the life that we are going to chose. There are many things you can’t depend on anymore, and you will have to resolve with doing things yourself. Especially as juniors and seniors in high school, we all have a lot to think about in the next coming years, which could very well be the biggest years of our life. For example, the dreaded standardized test, that can make, or break you. Personally I think these test are not the greatest thing because if you don’t do well and you are a great student with wonderful grades you may not get into the college you want to apply for, which could dampen your future dreams.

Career OptionsYou got big dreams and big ideas, but how are you going to channel that into something

you will enjoy doing, and also give you enough to make a decent living. You definitely can’t spend all of your years in college switching majors, because you won’t get very far before the cost catch up to you. It’s a tough decision and its hard for some people to make. Not to mention things don’t always go your way and just when you think you got things all figured out, life changes and you have to completely readjust. For instance, if your chosen career turns out not to be all that great, you have to pick up the tab and find a new job.

College CostNow picking up the tab for new courses in college isn’t a walk in the park because college prices are

straight up ridiculous. I don’t know how much it cost to run a school, but when you at least have 20,000 students don’t you think you can cut us a little slack. How do they expect us to pay for our education, we can’t just pull about $100,000 out of our pockets. IT’S A RECESSION!!!!!!! Most of these colleges have average middle class families paying for their children’s college education. Some can’t even afford to go to college, and they risk not being able to continue to live their dreams because they can’t pay. Not to mention, most jobs of today require a college education. Although that doesn’t stop kids from working really hard to try to get scholarships, to help offset those tuition prices. However some kids are perplexed when it comes to finding scholarships, let alone handle the college life itself.

Costs based on 2005–2006 estimate of average tuition and room and board in current dollars for four-year public and private universities according to the 2005 Trends in College Pricing, published by The College Board. Projected pricing assumes a six percent annual increase in college costs.

Just How Fast Are College Costs Growing?Everyone knows college costs are increasing, but just how much? Most experts project an average 6% increase per year. That means the cost to send a newborn child to a 4-year public university in the year 2023 will reach over $145,000 or over $335,000 for a 4-year private university. The graph below shows the rate these costs are expected to grow over the next 18 years.

Graph and information is courtesy of www.wellsfargoadvantagefunds.com/.../growing.jsp

Being On Your OwnLong ago are the days that we get the things we want handed to us. It’s the

college life now, we decide on everything that we do, like being out all night or not doing our chores. Although reality will eventually hit, because now we have to grow up and do everything ourselves. Mommy and Daddy are not going to be here to spoon feed us anymore, everything is all up to US!!!!! Wither its finding food, paying bills or doing your homework, everything is up to you.

EconomyNow that you have your independence you have to support yourself wither you are in or

out of college, but as you may know, this country is in a recession. So the job outlook is not very positive. You see people losing their jobs left and right, and you as well as me, are probably wondering, what is going to be left for me. Everyone wants their dream job, so they can feel like they won’t have to work another day in their lives. Considering the fact that they have been working hard all along to get to this point. On the other hand, there is the trouble of finding what kind of jobs are out there to satisfy all of your dreams, which could be very mind-boggling by itself.

• For a video of a college student’s perspective of the job outlooks in the economy please visit the following website when you are done with the PowerPoint. Just simply copy and paste the website into your address bar: http://www.fox11online.com/dpp/mobile/local_wluk_college_job_outlook_051620092042_rev1

On the Bright SideDay in and day out, you go through trial after trial, you see all kinds of negative news, and you come

into contact with people who only want to see you fail, and you wonder, is this the America they promise me? The answer to that question is yes, but you can be the one to change that fact into fiction and all it takes is hard work so you can achieve your dream and be on top. End the end after everything is said and done about college you can safely say you conquered one of the most daring challenges of your life. You will know that you will be ready for any challenge in life, wither if it’s finding a job or supporting your future family. Nobody can put you down, because you have came this far and there is no point in giving up now. College is the last step in truly testing your abilities to acquire your American dream, and once you have conquered the beast, NOBODY can stand in your way.