Essay: How College Education Shapes Our Lives and Future Career Paths

This essay explores the significant influence of college education on shaping an individual's career path and life choices. The author discusses the advantages of pursuing higher education, emphasizing increased employment opportunities and the potential for personal growth. The essay delves into the personal motivations behind the author's decision to pursue college education, highlighting the impact of parental advice, the importance of seizing opportunities, and the belief in the value of early education. The author references psychological concepts such as parental influence, procrastination, and the maximization of opportunities, drawing on research to support their arguments. The conclusion reinforces the idea of education as a future investment and underscores its unique ability to guide individuals toward success. The essay provides a clear and reasoned perspective on the transformative power of education in shaping one's future.

Running head: CHANGING OUR LIVES
Changing Our Lives
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation

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Changing Our Lives
College education greatly influences the career path that a person will take in life. In
the modern day, there are numerous college programs that one can enrol for. The school
system is made in such a way that it helps students become aware of what they are best in and
therefore pursue that. There are numerous advantages of having a college degree or pursuing
a program in an institution of higher learning. One of the advantages is that the chances of
employment increase. With increased chances, one can take care of their needs and those of
their households without any challenge. Education can bring a turn around to the life of the
person who pursues it actively and passionately. Education is a future investment and any
person who undergoes appropriate and active training has very high chances of becoming
successful in their endeavours in the future.
There are several reasons why I decided to pursue college education at this moment in
my life. One of the reasons was the great advice that I received from my parents and my
tutors in high school. My parents have been a great pillar of support since my young.
Psychologists suggest that parents play a great role in influencing the kind of person that their
child will become (Hannigan, 2014). Looking at my case, I would totally agree that parents
play a huge role in influencing the lives of their children. Since I was a little child, my parents
would insist on the importance of education. They often told me that it is best to pursue
education first before going to other things in life. Due to their consistent advice, I grew up
knowing that it is an important thing to first focus on education before focusing on other
things in life such as employment. My high school tutors also encouraged me to pursue
college education as soon as I finished high school. They advised that having an education is
a great way of building a strong foundation for my life.

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The second reason why I pursued my college education at this moment in life is
because I have always believed that it is best to pursue education when young. One of my
guiding principles in life is never to procrastinate unless it is extremely essential. I have read
many works of psychologist and social scientist. Extensive research reveals that
procrastination is one of the factors that lead to failure (Buss, 2015). Most people who
procrastinate are likely never to succeed in their endeavours (Csikszentmihalyi, 2014).
Furthermore, those who procrastinate are likely to form a vicious cycle of procrastination
(Thibaut, 2017). This only contributes to making their life miserable. It is true that we only
live once and it is therefore wise for one to make the best use of the time that is available to
them. This belief and principle made me pursue my college education as early as now.
The third reason why I pursued my degree early in life is that I belief in maximization
of any opportunity that comes my way. I do not like misusing an opportunity if it is likely to
have good outcomes. My belief is that I should aim towards being productive and making the
world a better place to live in. This makes me use any great opportunity that comes across my
way in the best way possible. I count the ability to have access to college education at this
time a great opportunity. I could not afford to leave such a wonderful chance of making both
my life and that of others better through education. It is worth noting that my parents and also
my high school tutors played a great role in teaching me on maximizing on the opportunities
that life puts my way. Psychologists have argued that education has the potential to influence
attitudes (Neisser, 2014). Attitudes on the other hand have the potential of influencing
practice (Smith, 2015). The advice that I received from my parents and tutors affected my
attitude positively and finally led to practice.
In conclusion, education has a unique capability in influencing the direction that one
will take in life. Since the early times, educated people have had higher chances of
succeeding in their endeavours than those who are not educated. Education could be thought

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of as a future investment. There are several reasons why I decided to pursue college
education at this moment in life. One of these is parental advice. The second reason is my
desire to achieve my dreams when young and the third is my belief that it is wise to utilise
any opportunity that comes my way.

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References
Buss, D. (2015). Evolutionary psychology: The new science of the mind. Psychology Press.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2014). Toward a psychology of optimal experience: Flow and the
foundations of positive psychology (pp. 209-226). Springer, Dordrecht.
Hannigan, J. (2014). Environmental sociology. Routledge.
Neisser, U. (2014). Cognitive psychology: Classic edition. Psychology Press.
Smith, J. A. (Ed.). (2015). Qualitative psychology: A practical guide to research methods.
Sage.
Thibaut, J. W. (2017). The social psychology of groups. Routledge.