Citizenship Has No PhD

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"What colleges are you looking at?"

This question is constantly asked to high school students throughout the United States. My sister is currently a sophomore in high school and is constantly stressing about preparing for college. She has called me numerous times to talk about course selections for the upcoming semesters, as well as various other topics about college. From having these conversations, I can tell, as her older brother, that she feels an immense amount of pressure from her peers about topics relating to college. My sister is constantly told that she must take all AP and Honors level courses in order to get into and succeed in college. In the United States, young students are told that in order to succeed in life they must take all AP courses in high schools, then go to a top-rated college in order to obtain a high paying job. Well as someone who is currently in college, I think this perceived formula-to-success is complete bullshit.

I believe that college is not meant for everyone, so need to stop presenting college as the only path to success to our youth.  In today’s world if you do not attend college, you are looked down upon other members of society. However as citizens, we each have a specific role in the preservation and creation of our great nation. In her book Our Declaration: A Reading of the Declaration of Independence in Defense of Equality, Danielle Allen explains that “everyone has something to contribute to the shared work of cultivating a collective intelligence that maximizes the community’s knowledge capacities” (Allen 192). This concept of equality Allen discusses in this line is the reason why our nation continues to grow and flourish today. There is an undeniable stigma attached to people who do not attend college. However, citizenship does not require you to have a Bachelor’s, Master’s or Doctoral degree. How would we get our cars fixed if we did not have any car mechanics? Who would grow all of the fresh produce and raise the livestock if it were not for the farmers and ranchers? Who would fix our broken toilets and pipelines if there were no plumbers? Who would protect our streets if we did not have police officers? Many people who work in these professions did not attend college, yet as citizens, they play crucial roles in the safety and preservation of our communities.

What makes the American Dream such a great ideal is that it means something different for every citizen. A formal college education is not a part of everyone’s American Dream. Therefore, we as an American community must recognize that professions and works of all citizens play a role in the advancement of our nation. You do need to have a college education to an active citizen and make a difference in your community, state, and nation.


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