Francisco Said:

what do you think of my last final argumentative essay?

We Answered:

First, I hope you correct many of the grammatical errors in this essay. Even your title has multiple errors (Probably should read "Working Part-Time in High School Helps Teenagers").

As for the content, I think you didn't correctly use the first two references you cite (by the way, I couldn't even find your second reference . . . you may want to check it). They are not claiming that part-time work for teenagers is necessarily bad. And you do correctly state that they claim that McDonalds and other fast-food restaurants do not make good part-time jobs because they teach no job skills useful in adulthood other than getting to work on time. But that view does not contradict your latter references, nor the rest of your essay. Your personal example of the benefits of part-time work at your school bus office would not necessarily have been criticized by your first references.

To contradict those authors, you might emphasize the benefits that a McJob does offer. Learning to get to work on-time really is a skill worth learning. Self-reliance and earning your own spending money (and learning to live within your means) are also good skills. And while it's rigid and inflexible, it does teach respect for authority (you may get away with backtalking to a teacher, but do that to your boss and you're fired!).

Plus, while the experience of a McJob may more closely compare to the rigid monotony of a factory job, it may very well teach kids what they DON'T want in life. By this, I mean that if your lack of effort in school is putting you on a life path of factory work, it could be that a taste of unsatisfying work might provide the incentive to work harder to make more of your life. This final point is related to your final paragraph about a job -- any job -- keeping you off the street and out of trouble.

Now, you refer to many of these benefits in you middle paragraphs. But you don't argue against the worthlessness of McJobs. If that is a point you were trying to make, I would recommend going the added step and stating that even McJobs offer some of these benefits and explain why.

Terry Said:

Lawyers and Law students! help! Question about employment after earn JD/Pass Bar Exam?

We Answered:

The general rule is that top 10% of the class will have some pretty solid job opportunities...although this has majorly, majorly changed with the economy. Smaller (or more regional) schools that you mentioned will be much better off in the same geographical area. A graduate of ND is going to have a much easier time finding employment in Chicago than in New York. A lot of law school is networking, and if your career center doesn't have someone on the inside of those big firms, it's going to be tough unless you're a standout.

The patent lawyers that make "crazy money" are the ones with a strong engineering/science background. IP is a hot field, but you have to know what you're talking about. You can make a lot of money in almost every field of law, but you have to be really, really good at it.

I'm sorry to tell you your undergraduate degrees will be essentially useless. It's the skills you learn that matter. If you have a lot of writing-intensive courses, that will help. Also great logical reasoning skills. I don't think a Masters is going to make that much of a difference unless you want the LLM and plan to enter academia.