Alfred Lubrano How College Corrupts

Alfred Lubrano How College Corrupts BY robn215 College is the next stepping stone to better or advance ones social standing in life, whether it is moving from a blue collar lifestyle to white collar, or to continue to further their career path. However, it comes with an â€Å"unavoidable result. † Alfred Lubrano discusses this â€Å"unavoidable result† in his text â€Å"The Shock of Education: How College Corrupts. † Lubrano discusses the topic of how furthering ones education opens more possibilities but at the same time distances those held most dearly.He explains that the more knowledge gained, the bigger the gap caused between friends and family due to differences in levels of knowledge. That distance is greatly increase if one comes from a poorer region where blue collar workers are the social norm. For instance, conversations within lower class households come off more militaristic due to the fact that all opinions are â€Å"dictated by group consensus,â⠂¬  where what the class says is so. Juxtaposed to the middle class household where they are talked to as adults..Lubrano does not try to dissuade one from attending college, he simply shines a light onto a hidden matter that is not discussed when continuing ones education. Lubrano hits the nail on the head about the distance gained when continuing ones education with friends and family, but does not consider the fact about that distance being magnified as a first generation American. One of Alfred Lubrano's main points was how college distanced childhood friends as well as loved ones.He describes how he learned to â€Å"self-censor† himself nd only discussed â€Å"general stuff,† because it was undiscerning to his father, a blue collar working man. Not to mention that listening to a freshman discuss the topics of race, equality, or politics, was as unsettling as â€Å"riding in a car with a new driver. † In fact, Lubrano's professor himself told his class not to discuss what they have learned in class, Marxist theory, because it would â€Å"mess up the holiday. † Under those circumstances, one can only imagine the distance lost trying to elaborate the topics discussed.Lubrano does an excellent Job of demonstrating the distance gained from the sheer fact of furthering ones education but does not consider the aloofness of first generation students trying to advance their educational life. I am a first generation college student and my parents were nothing but proud of me when I talked to them about continuing my education, as a matter of fact, they even bragged about it to other family members as well as bought me new items for school, clothes, shoes, and a laptop.But, neither they nor I was prepared for the detachment that as brought upon by trying to further ones education. During my first year of college I was exposed to the lifestyle of being completely â€Å"free. † I had attended Penn State University, which is about fo ur and a half hours away from Philadelphia, and during that time I had become wild and rambunctious. This was mainly due to the fact that within Asian households, the children are raised and taught in a completely different manner than an American household even though I was born and raised in Philadelphia.However, I was raised both by Vietnamese standards of discipline and espect without questioning authority, whilst also being raised on American standards of critical thinking and questioning everything. As you can tell those two standards of living are not exactly compatible. So, when college presented itself with the opportunity ot finding oneselt, I indulged As a consequence ot turtnering my education, I had lost some of my Asian roots and as you can tell; when I returned home I was not the same person. I was a smarmy freshman with a year of college under my belt with the mindset of being a completely independent adult.Causing omplications within my family and distancing ourselv es from one another. It was even more difficult because I could not discuss exactly what was affecting my relationship with my parents due to a language barrier. Granted, I did know how to speak to them in Vietnamese, but not without struggle. This due to the fact that as a child, I was more interested in watching Saturday morning cartoons than talking to my family. Alfred Lubrano does a good Job of describing exactly how furthering ones education causes a divide between friends and family.For example, he had to â€Å"self- ensor† his thoughts and separates which topics he talked about in order to not upset his family. However, he does not discuss the topic of how being a first generation college student can cause an even bigger divide between family due to different cultural beliefs and the language barrier. Again, Alfred Lubrano does not try to dissuade one from continuing ones education whatsoever, in fact he encourages it. Lubrano Just tries to expose a hidden agenda that most people do not discuss about, and that is how college causes a divide between family and friends.