Assignment 4: “Changing Our Lives” Thesis Statement  Adaliza Rodriguez ENG 090- Writing Fundamentals Charlotte Walker August 13, 2016             Think about this: a young innocent girl from a small neighborhood in Puerto Rico sitting at the dining table trying to work on her math homework. Her younger siblings are playing in the living room, as her mother is busy preparing dinner. Her father, because of irreconcilable differences, separated from the family and she is wondering if she will indeed manage to make it thru high school with all these emotional and psychological interference. That young girl is me. I did not make it pass high school. Thankfully, I managed to pass my GED when I moved to NJ with my aunt, and continue to pursue in further education.             Acquiring a college degree is undoubtedly a significant step in an individual’s life that it now one of the core components of the American dream. Earn a degree, get a job, start a family and buy a house. Ordinarily, it is challenging but it begins with a college degree. Many first generation university and college students experience wide range of feelings, such as being the first child in their family to attain a college degree. I also want to experience the same feelings. I was overwhelmed with pride for being the first in my family to attend college, It’s a dream come true. Normally, those in possession of a college degree enjoy numerous opportunities. Thus, it is a significant accomplishment that I will one day also receive.             Many students, particularly the first generation university or college students, encounter enormous challenges in finding the courage to face the college life. This is because of the changing lifestyle as well as the fear of adjusting to a new and different schedule. For me, college presented an opportunity to continue progressing in my career, and that motivated me. It is true that new students are normally worried about learning and understanding new technology and how it works. For this reason, I spent much of my time on the computer and learning how beneficial it is to take courses online when it is convenient for myself and family. Thus, I was able to pick up on the blackboard and follow along with the instructions, that proved to be helpful.             College life provides students with an opportunity to build up their self confidence.  Many use the opportunity to show pride in their academic success and build up their self esteem. College and university students are exposed to people from various backgrounds as well as expectations. An individual encounters some experiences that may make him or her feel socially, emotionally as well as physically uncomfortable. I used the new exposure to expand myself awareness and in understanding the world beyond student life.             Before getting into work environment, it is better to earn a college or university degree to enhance financial, social and career g.

1. Assignment 4: “Changing Our Lives” Thesis Statement
Adaliza Rodriguez
ENG 090- Writing Fundamentals
Charlotte Walker
August 13, 2016
Think about this: a young innocent girl from a small
neighborhood in Puerto Rico sitting at the dining table trying to
work on her math homework. Her younger siblings are playing
in the living room, as her mother is busy preparing dinner. Her
father, because of irreconcilable differences, separated from the

2. family and she is wondering if she will indeed manage to make
it thru high school with all these emotional and psychological
interference. That young girl is me. I did not make it pass high
school. Thankfully, I managed to pass my GED when I moved to
NJ with my aunt, and continue to pursue in further education.
Acquiring a college degree is undoubtedly a significant
step in an individual’s life that it now one of the core
components of the American dream. Earn a degree, get a job,
start a family and buy a house. Ordinarily, it is challenging but
it begins with a college degree. Many first generation university
and college students experience wide range of feelings, such as
being the first child in their family to attain a college degree. I
also want to experience the same feelings. I was overwhelmed
with pride for being the first in my family to attend college, It’s
a dream come true. Normally, those in possession of a college
degree enjoy numerous opportunities. Thus, it is a significant
accomplishment that I will one day also receive.
Many students, particularly the first generation
university or college students, encounter enormous challenges
in finding the courage to face the college life. This is because
of the changing lifestyle as well as the fear of adjusting to a
new and different schedule. For me, college presented an
opportunity to continue progressing in my career, and that
motivated me. It is true that new students are normally worried
about learning and understanding new technology and how it
works. For this reason, I spent much of my time on the
computer and learning how beneficial it is to take courses
online when it is convenient for myself and family. Thus, I was
able to pick up on the blackboard and follow along with the
instructions, that proved to be helpful.
College life provides students with an opportunity to
build up their self confidence. Many use the opportunity to
show pride in their academic success and build up their self

3. esteem. College and university students are exposed to people
from various backgrounds as well as expectations. An
individual encounters some experiences that may make him or
her feel socially, emotionally as well as physically
uncomfortable. I used the new exposure to expand myself
awareness and in understanding the world beyond student life.
Before getting into work environment, it is better to
earn a college or university degree to enhance financial, social
and career growth. That’s if, I could have earned a degree first,
but I am pursuing it now. Earning a college or degree requires a
lot of persistence, intellectual prowess, perseverance as well as
the ability to work in a challenging environment. These are the
important qualities necessary for the position of a manager or
an administrative director. I spent personal time on my own
reading and taking exams for administrator positions, and it has
enhanced my opportunity of dreams for a lucrative career. I am
currently the activity director for an adult day care in
Turnersville, NJ. I have used the opportunity to showcase my
leadership skills and craftiness I have learn from other schools.
For example, in school and in life, I learnt that leaders must be
able and willing to work with people from different cultural
backgrounds. I continually to use these skills to manage the
organizations diverse workforce. Hence, one must be successful
in demanding situations requiring discipline, stamina and
leadership as well as the ability to operate in a diverse working
environment in order to climb the career ladder. These
important skills can also be acquired and enhanced in a college
environment.
On top of the mental prowess associated with higher
education, university and college graduates are generally
healthier. They enjoy high economic status as exhibited by their
financial earnings or incomes. This is also directly related with
better psychological and physical well being as well as life
expectancy. I am going to college to boost my mental status,

4. climb the career ladder and make extra money. With the extra
money I can comfortably pay off my financial obligations
including housing mortgage, student loan and car loan. All work
and no play is a boring life. It is for this reason that I also want
to spent part of my finances to take my family on vacations so
as to spend valuable time with my family and relax from the
challenging and difficult work environment. I want my daughter
to have a better life than the one I had and as such I must
allocate some time to interact and discuss important issues such
as the importance of education with her. My work is so
demanding, hence consuming much of my time to have leisure
with my husband and daughter. Thus, I must set some time to
bond with my husband, arrange for the future of our daughter
and iron out any tensions or differences within the family.
Many people attend college for various reasons such as
attaining stable jobs as well as enhancing their financial
security. But there are other personal benefits of attaining
college education: improving the quality of life; improving self
esteem; making healthy choices; job satisfaction; and passing
the legacy to other family members. The list is endless.
I am going to college to show that no matter the
challenges, with the correct mindset and determination, one can
not only attend, but also earn a quality college degree. I took
the opportunity to improve on my self confidence. There is
something unique about college graduates that make them stand
straight and tall. Surely it has to do with something about
enhancing an individual’s self esteem as well as confidence
associated with acquiring a college degree. Higher education
graduates are adequately equipped to face mental challenges
resulting in higher achievements. One of the benefits of earning
a college degree has to do with passing on the mantle to their
children. Thus, I am attending to acquire a college degree to act
as an example to my daughter. Children of college graduates
have a higher chance of leading better life as well as pursuing

5. higher education. They also have easier time of gaining entry
into good learning institutions because of their parents’ advice
on the significance of attaining a higher education degree. They
similarly record better grades as well as test scores.
I also am going to college to gain extra experience; go
beyond my current status and acquire more knowledge on how
to manage a business. As a human being I am a lifelong learner.
I constantly strive to add more to my knowledge reservoir; by
challenging myself academically and gaining new experience,
something that I consider more rewarding. Thus, acquiring a
college education will provide me with the opportunity to learn
more in a structured manner for my personal satisfaction.
Finally, with a college degree I know I will be more
productive at my place of work. I know I will enjoy enormous
access to recourses and also share my experience of knowledge
with my colleagues. I will be able to accomplish greater deeds
at my workplace and probably will have more respect as well as
recognition from my colleagues. Unquestionably, a college
degree makes some difference in an individual’s resume. It
communicates something about the individual and the
dedication he or she has taken to achieve his or her academic
success.
In conclusion, I decided to join college for emotional
and personal as well as financial reasons. I believe that they are
valid as well as strong matters of concern as they keep on
pushing me on my daily activities. The idea of being the
administrative director of a company and looking forward to
acquiring a college degree as well as self belief in my
capabilities despite my childhood challenges is enjoyable and
exciting. Thus, I can attain my desires if I want to. Finally, I
will use this essay as evidence that everything is possible and
that a college degree is indeed important for a better life.
ROUGH DRAFT; CHANGING OUR LIVES

6. Name
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College degree is very important not just in the American life
but also in several parts of the world now. It has numerous
advantages when compared to just a basic high school diploma.
While there are many merits in having a college degree, these
advantages, which seem rather similar for all people, are
attained in different ways. What I mean by this is, there are
different motivating factors for a person to pursue a college
degree.
In general, it is arguable that those people that have a college
degree have advantages such as better paying jobs, an easier
way of finding jobs compared to those with an education lower
than them, the advantage of meeting now people, having a sense
of accomplishment, higher social status, better salary, better
satisfying jobs and greater self-esteem among many other
endless reasons.
It has never been and was never an easy way for me into having
a college degree. I was a first born in a family that had parents
separated. It was a psychological devastation to engage in
school work with the burden off having to ensure my parent’s
separation. As a first born however, I had to set a good example
to my younger siblings. Earning a college degree thus was going
to at least give them some element of hope by proving that it is
possible despite our challenging upbringing in Puerto Rico.
College education isn’t easy all the same. It involves engaging
with new people, new environment and numerous challenges of
having to adapt to what a person had not been used to. Upon
imagining improved economic status, the improved chances of
moving up the career ladder, respect from peers and an ability
to tackle problems from a different dimension, the motivation

7. and desire to gain a college degree overshadows the problems
and obstacles.
Definitely my career as an administrator will have an immense
boost. I have mentioned the respect from peers. The
improvement in expertise is as well likely to earn me a position
of higher responsibility and thus, promotions are now more
likely with a college degree. Needless to say, in a related area, I
will be able to advance my education to may be masters an even
doctorate. Without a college degree this would be technically
next to impossible.
One area that most people never really think about with regards
to a college degree is family. There are so many advantages
associated with a degree; the social status, economic
advancement, ability to network with great minds and all that. It
is a fact that it is partly due to social selfishness that drives us
into wanting a college degree so badly. We want the best for
ourselves. So, it is obvious that with a college degree, the
benefits allow for better relaxation such as vacations with
husband and children. Every parent looks forward to their
children having a better life. That is not an exception with me.
With a proper knowledge of the education system, the ins and
outs of the jobs that my degree will enable me to interact with
and the higher income just to mention but a few, are some of the
things that will be very beneficial to my children. I’ll pass the
academic legacy to them and if I am in possession of a college
degree, the will have to aim higher and do better than me.
Overall too, my family will have stability, all factors held
constant, economically and health wise.
Conclusively, earning a college degree opens up someone’s
eyes, improves their social status and self-esteem and also
opens up opportunities not only for the person but also for
others.