This personal essay is from talk.onevietnam.org, where it appeared on May 9, 2011.

1

After May 14th, I will be a college graduate. By fall, there will be no more a cappella rehearsals, no more papers or exams, no more sleepless nights, no more weekday drinking, no more 1 AM milk tea runs, no more San Francisco Bay Area exploring. I won’t be with the people I now see daily. I won’t have the same job with the same awesome boss. I won’t be singing under Sproul every Monday. I won’t be booked with weekly gigs that take me all over California. I won’t be lighting another VSA Culture Show.

2

I will also have new commitments: weekly dinner dates with my mom, brother/sister time with my other two brothers, job hunting and career building, car purchasing and maintenance. In essence, my life will be—or at least feel—completely different. From what college alumni have told me, I will soon miss my college days after they are gone.

3

But in the bigger picture, outside of the daily tasks, what does it mean to hold a college degree? My fellow graduating coworker and I discussed the importance (or lack thereof) of our college degrees: while I considered hanging up my two diplomas, she believed that having a bachelor’s was so standard and insubstantial, only a professional degree is worth hanging up and showing off. Nowadays, holding a college degree (or two) seems like the norm; it’s not a very outstanding feat.

4

However, I’d like to defend the power of earning a college degree. Although holding a degree isn’t as powerful as it was in previous decades, stats still show that those who earn bachelor’s degrees are likely to earn twice as much as those who don’t. Also, only 27 percent of Americans can say they have a bachelor’s degree or higher. Realistically, having a college degree will likely mean a comfortable living and the opportunity to move up at work and in life.

5

Personally, my degrees validate my mother’s choice to leave Vietnam. She moved here for opportunity. She wasn’t able to attend college here or in Vietnam or choose her occupation. But her hard work has allowed her children to become the first generation of Americans in the family to earn college degrees: she gave us the ability to make choices she wasn’t privileged to make. Being the fourth and final kid to earn my degree in my family, my mom can now boast about having educated children who are making a name for themselves (a son who is a computer-superstar, a second son and future dentist studying at UCSF, another son who is earning his MBA and manages at Mattel, and a daughter who is thankful to have three brothers to mooch off of).

6

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For me, this degree symbolizes my family being able to make and take the opportunities that we’ve been given in America, despite growing up with gang members down my street and a drug dealer across from my house. This degree will also mean that my children will have more opportunities because of my education, insight, knowledge, and support.

7

Even though a college degree isn’t worth as much as it was in the past, it still shows that I—along with my fellow graduates and the 27 percent of Americans with a bachelor’s or higher—will have opportunities unheard of a generation before us, showing everyone how important education is for our lives and our futures.

AT ISSUE: SOURCES FOR STRUCTURING AN ARGUMENT