Education Well-Worth the Investment _Racquel Foran, OP Contributor I feel compelled to express my lonely opinion—I do not think post-secondary education in Canada is overly expensive. There I said it, have your hissy-fit and get over it. Complaining about the cost of tuition has become a standard protest at colleges and universities around the country, and Douglas College is no exception. It’s pretty easy to get students rallied around. Nobody likes parting with their hard-earned dollars, and school just isn’t the tangible return on investment that people are used to these days. As a result, there’s a large consensus that post-sec- ondary education is too expensive. I have a hard time sympathizing with student protesters, especially when they have cell phones jammed in their faces, MP3 players stuffed in their ears, and designer running shoes adorning their feet. Before students complain about the cost of post-secondary education they need to consider their financial priorities. Tuition should not be viewed as an expense, but rather as an investment. As with any investment, you're likely to acquire debt at the outset in order to get a better return in the long run. It’s been proven that the lifetime earning potential of someone with a post-secondary education vastly exceeds that of a high school graduate. Twenty thousand dollars spent on earning a bachelor’s degree today translates into a lifetime income of $1,000,000 and $2,000,000 more than if you had not gained that education. I can’t think of any other financial outlay that would earn you anywhere close to this kind of return on investment. It’s debt well worth incurring. Students also need to consider what it is they’te asking for—more money from government. We need to remember that the money we are asking our government to spend ultimately comes from our own tax dollars. If the government spends more money on funding post-secondary education, sure as shootin’ they will take that money from us somewhere else. I would much rather see our govern- ment pour money into the public school system, ensuring that every child has an equal opportunity to graduate from high school. Then, when these young adults graduate from the public school sys- tem, it should be their own hard work, drive and ingenuity that gets them through post-secondary education. I believe gaining a professional designation should be difficult. I don’t think post-secondary stu- dents should necessarily have the luxury of attending school without having to work. Work experi- ence is life experience, and this is a vital part of education as well. Having to balance multiple respon- sibilities and be successful at them all is part of life. Once we graduate from high school, it is a fast track to reality. Stuff is expensive. Life is hard. Things often aren’t fair. But experiencing all this is as important to one’s education as sitting in a lecture hall. If getting an education were cheaper, easier, would it be as valuable? Many people who started out poor in this world have gone on to achieve great things, and many rich people have failed in both academics and life. The cost of an education alone does not deter- mine success or failure. Hard work, sacrifice, and commitment are much more likely to see you through life’s challenges than a few extra bucks in your pocket are. opinionsubmit@hotmail.com Gunther von Hagens’ Bry WOREDS atomical Exhibition of Real Human Bodies bd e312 8 Special pricing for students with ID OPENS SEPTEMBER 15 file ¢=)6mr-l'/l if 10) (sede) aloud telusworldofscience.com/vancouver or call 604.443.7530 SCIENCE WORLD at AAA TELUS WORLD ** CMG lanes telusworldofscience.com era OM Smee