Lessons From the Assembly Line: Why College is A Priori

Newsweek had a great essay last week by Andrew Braaksma, a junior at U of M, written as the winning essay for a "back to school" contest held by Newsweek. In the essay, Braaksma talks about how he works in a plastics factory during his summer breaks from school, and he perfectly highlights the reason why it is so important for us to try to increase the opportunities for people to go to college, and just as importantly for people who do have the opportunity, to make the most of it.

He also highlights why it is so important for Michigan to diversify its economy and spend every possible dollar we can on not only K-12 education, but on providing ways for more high school seniors to have the opportunity to make the jump from high school to college. If we can't do this, it will be increasingly difficult for Michigan to have the workforce necessary to lure companies in the important cutting-edge technology fields that are not easily lured overseas in the same way that manufacturing jobs have been exported. Its a shame that we have lost as many jobs as we have here, but with Michigan's inability to change the federal policies and global trends that caused the losses of these jobs, I am glad that Governor Granholm is trying, through her and Lt. Governor Cherry's Commission on Higher Education, to put a plan together to double the number of college graduates here in Michigan over the next 10 years. At the very least we can make that (i.e., the future) a priority, even if the federal government isn't willing to make the present or the future a priority.

Anyways...read Andrew Braaksma's essay from last week's Newsweek here.