Coming to the conclusion that a college degree, if not higher, can yield better opportunities in life, EC students are taking necessary strides to ensure successful futures for themselves by continuing their educations.

Some students desire a high-paying salary, and this desire is what has driven them toward continued education.

“I decided to go to college to have a better paying job and to be able to support my family,” Sinai Paz, 19, biology major, said. “I want to be independent and know that I can support my family on my own.”

Paz is the first person in her family to graduate high school and the is first person to move on to college.

“I want to be a dentist and that will allow me to have a comfortable life,” Paz said.

Others simply go to class to appease their parents.

“My parents are the ones supporting it (going to college),” Krys McDonald, photography and fashion major said. “They want me to be businessman, stuck with coffee to my lips. I want to make my own fashion line one day and start my own photo studio.”

Some students gather inspiration from outstanding figures in their lives.

“I’m following my big sister’s path. She goes to Cal State Los Angeles,” Jesse Pedraza, 18, undecided major, said. “She is really supportive.”

Varying in goals and aims, most students may agree that obtaining a higher education aids in sorting out one’s likes and dislikes, which helps to better assess what field may bring one closer to a more fulfilling occupation.

“I thought I liked psychology, but I’ve been exposed to so much other stuff,” Pedraza said, “I want to do everything. I want to educate myself because it’s fun learning new things about different people.”

In the end, some students may be putting themselves through school to avoid getting trapped in a minimum-wage job setting.

“Coming to school, taking the classes and getting the degree is worth it,” Amir Shafaghat, 20, theater major, said. “It’s better than working a part-time job that you could lose at any time.”

No matter what reason one finds for commuting to and from class, the decision to strive for a degree, or to at least try and learn something new, may benefit individuals who would rather not follow a lifestyle of monotony and boredom.

“College isn’t for everybody. Some people get their degrees and they’re working in a little box, they have paper-work all day, eat dinner and go to sleep,” Shafaghat said.

Realistic, confident and unscathed by a little homework and studying now and then, students are taking advantage of the bountiful opportunities available to them, with only the sky as the limit.

“Only the truly awesome don’t go to college and can still be great,” McDonald said. “I could probably do that, but I figured I’d take a few classes and see what I like.”

Society may advocate for a high school graduate’s continued education, but it is only because the majority of individuals, who choose to leap through the hoops of higher education, succeed in reaping material wealth from high-paying occupations.

“I think society dictates the standard lifestyle, (going to college) but that just depends on each individual’s ideals,” Paz said. “People see a good lifestyle as being wealthy, but happiness is not just wealth, but is also about being satisfied and content with your life.”