"Blue-Collar Brilliance"

Summary:
In Mike Rose’s essay “Blue-Collar Brilliance,” he claims that people think that intelligence is measured by how much education a person has undergone. He suggests that blue-collar jobs require more education than what most people see. He talks about his experience when he was younger, when he would watch his mother work as a waitress. He describes his mother as an active woman who loved her job. She was very hardworking and memorized who ordered what. She even remembered how long it takes for a dish to be ready. Rose also mentions his uncles’ work at the General Motors factory and talks about he came to work there too. He went from being in the production live to supervising paint jobs. He describes how he studied different types of blue-collar jobs in action and in the end, claims that each one of them have skills that takes a lot to dominate.

Response:
I agree with Rose that a person’s intelligence is not measured by how much schooling he/she has finished. Especially in today’s economy, not everyone can afford to pursue a higher education or an education at all. I do believe that a getting a good education is worth it, but I also believe that school isn’t for everyone. Going to college isn’t the only way for a person to achieve a happy life.