Times Have Changed Essays - Educational Psychology, Adolescence

Times Have Changed Times have changed dramatically in the past thirty years. The style of living, the sizes of families, and education have all changed dramatically. During the fifties, sixties, and most of the early seventies teenagers were thinking about going off to war or starting a family. Very few teenagers coming out of high school were thinking about college. Slowly as times started to change, more and more people were going off to college. Today at the end of the nineties, very few people do not go off to college. Instead of high school students thinking about starting families or going off to war, they have a bigger decision to make. What college to attend. This decision will affect one's entire life; how they live, where they work, what size family they are going to have, and sometimes whom they will marry. Today, choosing a college is almost one of the biggest decisions one would have to make. The answer to this question will affect them for life. Finding a good job in the workforce is getting more difficult as time goes on. Employers are looking for individuals who are smart and can add something to the company; the competition is fierce. They are no longer accepting teenagers right out of High School. They are looking for people in their mid- twenties with a four-year degree, sometimes even a graduate level degree. Many hypothesize that this is because companies are paying their employees more. Another hypothesis is that they are trying to move forward. These companies are trying to expand on what they already have. There is a race to become the biggest and the best. Therefore, they are looking to college students who are specialized and know about the field. They are willing to pay college graduates a lot of money because they have faith that they will earn it back. During the fifties, sixties, and early seventies companies were happy to be getting anyone. With the wars going on and the protests for peace, most fresh workers were occupied. These companies were willing to pay and train anyone that might have been interested. Their selection was not as great as it is now. The selection of workers today is enormous. Therefore, college students today have to work harder to appear better than the next person. They need to sell themselves on paper. It is hard to do this without a good college name on one's resume. One should keep in mind all that has changed in thirty years. Imagine what can change in four years. The difficulty of getting a job could increase. With that, the amount of people applying for the same job, with the same qualifications can also increase in difficulty. The power of a good education should not be underestimated; in many cases, it means a good future.