Article Review Essay Example: Some Lessons from the Assembly Line

The article, Lessons from the assembly line is a short article authored by Andrew Braaksma to highlight the challenges that students go through in their daily attempt to get an education. The writing plan aims to reach the high school and college students. The essay will help them in making important decisions about education. They will be in a position to make a comparison between the having school education

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The Claim

Andrew Braaksma's goal in this essay is to highlight the challenges that blue collar workers undergo in the course of their daily activities. In the article, he attempts to show the difference in the expectations of the students and how these expectations are not the same as the reality of professional education found in the current contemporary society. The author also highlights how important education is to the modern society and the challenges that people who are not learned, or people with low levels of schooling undergo. In this regard, the author aims to encourage the students to take their studies seriously. To support this, Andrew Braaksma gives an outline of his encounters with the blue collar profession. Students should, therefore, evaluate the strength of the efforts that they put in their education.

Key Point # 1

The duration of time that people spend at their places of work does not go to waste as compared to the time that students have. Students do not use their time constructively and productively. They mostly waste this free time because the duration of their lectures is usually short.

The essayist says, "For a student like me who considers any class before noon to be uncivilized, getting to a factory by 6 o'clock each morning, where rows of hulking, spark-showering machines have replaced the lush campus and cavernous lecture halls of college life, is torture," (Braaksma, 2005)

The initial statement in evidence shows that students do not attend most of the classes. The lack of civilization of attending courses before noon shows that students get lost in the wave of peer pressure.

I agree with this point because while in schools, students do not feel the pinch of raising funds to keep them in schools. As a result, they have a lot of time to waste. Therefore, they engage in unconstructive activities that bring no impact to their lives. They realize this when they start working on their own to sustain themselves.

Key Point # 2

The author also shows that students attach less value to money during their student life. He reveals that he spends too much on beer. It is evident in the proclamation, "My experiences will stay with me long after I head back to school and spend my wages on books and beer" (Braaksma, 2005). In the professional world, people attach high value for money because getting it is difficult.

The statement "spend my wages on books and beer" shows the extent to which student do not attach value to money that they have worked very hard. They have less priority on essential things. I disagree with this point. The reason behind my disagreement is that in as much as the author spends money on beer, he does not forget the importance of education. As a result, he also uses the hard earned cash to purchase books as well. The author, however, met his goal with provided evidence.

Key Point # 3

The author asserts that there is no job security in the factory's job. Acquiring such a role is also very difficult. The writer states that "As frustrating as the work can be, the most stressful thing about factory life is knowing that your job could disappear overnight" (Braaksma, 2005). It is, therefore, the evidence to support the lack of job security. Lack of job security is consequently rampant among those with low levels of education.

I agree with this point because competition for opportunities characterizes the modern society. The opportunities are scarce while those who are after the chances are so many. To help solve this situation, students should take their education very seriously so that they can create employment opportunities for other people through entrepreneurship, creativity, and innovation.

In conclusion, it is right to agree that in the essay, the author has managed to highlight the challenges that blue collar workers undergo in the course of their daily activities. The author also manages to show that there is real life in the professional life. Student life entails too many fantasies and dreams. To avoid the challenges that come as a result of not being learned, the author manages to advise students to make use of their time to the maximum while in school.

References

Braaksma, A. (2005). Some Lessons from the Assembly line; Sweating away my summers as a factory worker makes me more than happy to hit the books. Newsweek