By Alexandra Thompson
ablockton@lc.edu

Have you ever wondered about the educational benefits that come with having a college degree? Have you ever considered the ultimate successful changes that they can bring into your life?

More so often these days, many individuals struggle working minimum wage hours for low pay. People work long hours just to be able to make ends meet and to pay bills such as rent, car payments, electric bills, phone bills, etc.

Unfortunately, that is not a pleasant way to live because it’s as if all your worries and income go towards paying bills.

Deciding on going back to school in order to obtain a degree is the best decision I have ever made. I am now focused on having a career in life instead of just focusing the rest of my life to make ends meet. Of course, it is not an easy process but I am quite sure in the long run all of my hard work and effort I am putting forth will eventually pay off.

According to the online article “Benefits of Earning a College Degree,” written by Becton Loveless on Education Corner, Loveless mentioned many reasons for considering getting a college degree. Studies have shown that college graduates earn significantly more money throughout their lifetime than those with only a high school education.

It will also benefit your family as well as yourself! Part of the reason employment benefits are so important is because they offer stability for your family, especially in the case of health care. They are called benefits, but in reality, they are a vital part of anyone’s salary. In some cases, the value of benefits even exceeds an employee’s take-home pay. Families of college graduates are generally better off economically and socially.

You have a chance at better career opportunities, which in a career is often composed of the jobs held from in your past, titles earned and work you have accomplished over a long period of time, rather than just referring to one position! Also being able to have job security, which is a probability that an individual will keep their job, will increase once you have a degree.  As a college graduate, you will be giving time to invest in your future, by making some sacrifices in the present to reap rewards for it later in life.

Giving yourself time to network by meeting new instructors, students, teachers, professors, faculty and staff members while attending college as a student will definitely be an important role in your life. It will give you a chance to connect and move forward in life with other individuals on your educational journey.

Being a college student will be able to help you advance with your very own growth in personal development. That growth helps cover activities that improve awareness and identity, develop talents and potential, build human capital,and facilitate employability, while enhancing the quality of life and it contributes to the realization of dreams and aspirations. Overall, personal development takes place over the course of a person’s entire life.

Believing that you have the courage in life to complete your educational studies while having ambition and motivation to keep moving forward in life takes work. Learning to set goals and start completing them by all means is difficult but worth it, because you only have one life to live, so why wouldn’t you want to make the best of it? Because I sure do by all means necessary!