Speaks Out

What do you believe is the purpose of College
Education? Barbara J. Kerdner Graduate
student Community Health Services   “To prepare myself
to be able to earn my living and support a lifestyle where I am
comfortable and can contribute to the support of loved ones and
others. That’s my personal choice. I also want to have the
privilege and freedom of contributing to others as they need it and
when they need it and I don’t want to retire.”
Emerson F. Lego Third-year Biochemistry  
“The purpose of a college education is to empower yourself.
Once you’re self-empowered, then you can go on to do things
like be a catalyst for social change. You can also do things like
advance your own family and yourself. The more degrees you get, the
more empowered you are to do these things. Degrees carry a lot of
weight these days regardless of what other people say. And I think,
especially here at UCLA, getting a college degree will really
provide a way for self-growth academically, socially, politically,
culturally or however you want to go.” Cynthia
Mosqueda Third-year Sociology and Chicana/o studies  
“I’m here not only to learn concepts, practical tools,
take my classes, and go to school. I also want to learn
organizational skills to go out and help make changes in my
community.” Ali Emre Uyar Graduate student
Economics   “The conditions in my country, Turkey, are
different from the way they are here. If you don’t go to
college, there is no way that you can get a good job or advance in
life and in business. Without a college degree, you can become
nothing. So the purpose of a college eduction is to secure a future
life.” Antonio Moore Fourth-year Poltical
Science   “The purpose of a college education is to give
you a cushion before you hit the real world. It’s like a
pillow. You don’t want to land on the concrete. Some people
go into the real world straight out of high school. They of course
will get the lower salary and it will be harder for them to make it
through life and provide for their family. College gives you a step
up. You have to work harder to separate yourself from everyone else
in college.” Melissa Balam First-year
Biology   “For me, the purpose of a college education is
to prepare myself for my future career, hopefully to be a doctor.
Its purpose is also to make sure that you have an understanding of
the world and to prepare yourself for what the world has to offer.
With a college education, you get so many opportunities to study
about a lot of different things and you learn a lot of new things
you did not know before.” Tri Nguyen
Fifth-year Math with computer specialization   “College
is society’s definition of you moving on and preparing
yourself for the future, but it’s not necessarily the right
way for you. Society makes you go to college because they believe
that it’s the way to go in order for you to have a better
future. But in reality, it may not be the way. I think going to
college is a socially constructed definition of what it means to be
educated. There are other ways of getting ahead or being educated
in society without a degree.” Tanya S. Hakim
Alumna Communication studies   “I think the purpose of a
college education is to broaden my horizons, to become a better
person, and to understand more about life and what really goes on.
Actually … come to think of it, I don’t even know what I
was doing here.” Compiled by Jonah Lalas, Daily Bruin Senior
Staff. Photos by Keith Enriquez, Daily Bruin Senior Staff. Web
Adaptation by Hernane Tabay, Daily Bruin Senior Staff