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Nick Toner Instructor Stefan Britt ENG 111 29 April, 2014 Critical Reflection Essay For my English 111 class during the winter semester of 2013, I wrote two Academic Multi-source Essays. Both of these were essentially the same context just a difference of one source between the two. I chose to write about the trends that I have observed regarding college from my early entry right out of high school to my current status ten years later re-trying. The specific thought I had is that college has essentially become nothing more than glorified high school, depending of course on what level of institution in which you enroll. I specifically refer to the model of community colleges as it is what Im most familiar with. My first thought going into the writing of the essays was to not offend my audience which would consist of community college educators. I wanted to state my thoughts clearly enough as to not offend, and to also convey that its a real issue that I have observed as my time in higher education transpires. There are some mentions in the essays about the syllabi which I have collected thus far, and the grading rules found within. When considering not offending my audience, this was the area in which I exercised the most caution. The first source I used, which ended up being a primary source for both essays, was W. J. Reeves. His article College Isnt for Everyone was a reading that was assigned to me in class. When I first read the article I was profoundly wowed at the way he portrayed all the so-called students who he thought had not reason being in college. More importantly I felt on a personal level that every word in the article made sense. I could look around at the fellow students in the

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halls or in my classes and see the students which had Reeves so up in arms about. After all I am finding myself going to school again based solely on the necessity to find the better job that I can raise my family with. Realizing that I am also one of the students Reeves describes not only fueled these essays, it provoked me to examine at my own ambitions about being in college. The article has made me want to strive to become a student that Reeves would say belonged in college. My original companion to Reeves was Clive Crook. His article A Matter of Degrees: Why College Is Not An Economic Cure-All was also an assigned reading. My decision to use Crook was decidedly easy to me as his piece was also critical of higher education. I felt that his article provided an economic insight that was valuable to my overall discussion. This article focused largely about who should attend college based on the financial burdens it placed on families. He also claims, and I agree, that on-the-job training was a useful tool in America which is sadly dying. Based on the similarities between the articles, I wrote my two-source essay on Crook and Reeves. After the success that I had with my two-source receiving a favorable grade and with the AMS essays looming I took the advice of my instructor and instead of re-rolling an entire new idea for the AMS, I would just keep Reeves and Crook with my higher education idea and simply find a third source to add to the conversation. During a meeting with my instructor he brought to light Louis Menand and his article What are Universities For? which I had originally intended to add to the Reeves/Crook mix. However, I had a family issue which required me to leave town for a significant spell of time, and while gone I told myself I would work the essay when I had a chance. When that chance came I realized that I had forgotten the Menand text. In a relative mad scramble across the internet to find an academic quality article for

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which I could substitute Menand, I found Susan Adams. Her article "Half Of College Grads Are Working Jobs That Don't Require A Degree" seemed to be a perfect fit. Adams talked strongly about what all these college grads who had to attend college to receive their crowning careers. She cited significant research indicating that there are many of these college grads who are no better for their college degrees. Many of the grads she speaks of are unemployed, underemployed or employed in a field which has nothing to do with their degree and could not be described as the great career they were initially seeking. The Reeves/Crook/Adams AMS essays for me blended together well and through the instructor and reading circle reviews I decided to use this topic and research as the basis for my subsequent AMS remix. The overwhelming response to my Reeves/Crook/Adams essay was that while the Crook piece was topical, it didnt necessarily strengthen my original thesis. I myself thought it was a strange fit, but I thought it added that touch of another part of societys view on the problem with its focus on economics. These critiques led me to reexamine the Menand piece and I was pleased to discover that the flow of the essay seemed to improve considerably by using three sources that approached similar aspects of the higher education problem. I am actually quite impressed with the finished Reeves/Adams/Menand piece and generally as my largest critic, I think it will leave the reader with a similar impression. I feel that the three of the essays I used all have a similar view about the trends which I problematize throughout the essay. Their subtle differences however, in what role they are supporting in society makes me feel like anyone should be able to read my piece, and at the very least say to themselves that they clearly see the issue that Ive presented that college today has become merely an extension of high school. Society is almost requiring us to be college educated just as

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they have in the past required a high school diploma. This is precisely why I am enrolled in college again as a thirty year old and spent so much of this semester diving into this topic.