Posted on 05/04/2005 8:15:16 AM PDT by qam1
As I watch my classmates graduate it seems many of them are less sure of their purpose then when they began college. College used to be where young adults went to find themselves and then pursue their passion. It was a luxury for the crem de la crem of society. It wasn't long ago that most children knew their place in society by adolescence and were resigned to that fate.
Now with the plethora of choice, instead of college opening amazing new opportunities and fulfilling our wildest dreams, it has left us unprepared for the real world and paralyzed by the paradox of too much choice. Four years of college and are we really any better off for it?
There is no denying it; the pressure looms from all corners. At most suburban high schools the guidance counselors aren't asking if you are going to college, they are asking where. Parents aren't wondering if they are going to help pay your ever-increasing college tuition, they are wondering how.
So, teenagers are shuffled off to college by overbearing pressures and then languish in an academic environment that they don't really desire or feel passionate about. Sometimes they make it through the four years, sometime they don't. Many of those who do, find themselves degree in hand with no more of an idea of what to do with their life then four years earlier.
Perhaps we should stop and consider that a four-year college right out of high school isn't the right choice for everyone. Perhaps college isn't the place to "find yourself", especially to the tune of over 15 grand a year.
A third of college students do not qualify for a degree in six years and just because you don't graduate, doesn't mean you don't have to pay back student loans.
Since when is a college degree all that counts in the job market? The U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics' estimates of the fastest-growing occupations between 2002 and 2012 show that six of the top 10 don't require bachelor's degrees.
On the job training, vocational and technical degrees can lead to successful careers. Let's face it, for many occupations, a year of on the job training would prepare you much better then wading through philosophy, ethnic studies, astronomy and all those other gen eds that bog down students and stretch out our education to four years and beyond.
Admittedly, much of the college education process is a product of our societal conceptions of what determines success and job preparedness. It is also a great ploy by the universities to reel in those middle class baby boomer dollars by convincing mom and dad that a pricey degree is the only thing separating their baby from comfy suburban bliss and destitution.
True, some jobs require a four year degree before they will even look at your application, regardless of your other skills, talents and life experiences. However, often hard work, ingenuity, charisma, tenacity and a lot of character qualities that aren't exclusive to a degree are what really translate to a good employee.
As college tuition skyrockets, perhaps this college model needs reevaluated and transformed into a more efficient and effective system that actually teaches people usable skills. There are signs that this shift may already be under way. Community and technical college enrollments are rising. States, like Ohio, are recognizing this and shifting funding in that direction.
Sure college can be a great community and social environment, but if you spend more hours at the bars then in class you probably aren't going to come out of here with much more then a beer belly. Paying this kind of tuition money to have friends and a social life is like joining an expensive country club without the free golf.
Even if you do make it to and possibly enjoy class remember; a lecture and a textbook isn't the only way to learn by the way. You would be amazed what a library card and a passport can offer.
Let's face it, the college environment is a sandbox compared to the beach we face when we get out of here. The vast shores are intimidating and unexplored, but the possibilities really are endless. I'm just not so sure playing for four years in the sandbox gets us ready for the adventure.
Don't be too sad, Amanda will be back in the fall. In the meantime you can e-mail her at ahooper@bgnet.bgsu.edu
Our daughter wants to do this; and I would love to know more about the program your daughter is in, if you are willing. We don't want her running around Italy on her own.
C,
I couldn't agree more.
Alot of folks treat their early college years as 13th and 14th grade. They miss out on alot.
I didn't think it was supposed to. It may help, though.
I suggest Amanda stay in school long enough to learn to spell a few French expressions, at any rate. Heaven knows she'll need to know such important stuff when she finally gets out in that infamous "real world."
Too be fair, The font for this on the article was screwed up and it didn't transfer over to Freerepublic so she might have had it right
As someone still in college (and a history major, no less) I can relate with this article. Yet, I am now convinced that college is one of the best choices I've made, hands down.
The major thing for kiddo's to realize is that they have to focus on something. This is true for anything in life, not just college.
One more issue I take with the article "Six of the top 10" don't require degrees....this may be so but would you really be hurting yourself in the long run to get a degree?
That's true. It could be that people with degrees also tend to have a better upbringing.
My daughter majored in building construction. She makes more on her first job than I do.
It took me years to overcome mine. Thankfully, I went to engineering school, which kept me from completely losing my mind. I knew I couldn't survive in a PC liberal arts school. Although I never worked as an engineer, it may have been a life-saving decision.
Could be a lot of things, but I don't see a causal relationship, from what I've seen of college.
I agree with this post a hundred percent. I traded business for history (I haven't told anyone close to me yet. I don't want to cause any heart attacks).
I made this choice because I wanted a solid, proper education. I don't think there is anything wrong at all with the liberal arts. It is as you said, American society no longer values them. Besides business is best learned hands on anyways, IMHO.
As a person who finally acquired a college degree in his forties and who is now in his fifties, I'd have to say that the best chance for the average high school person to have a successful money making career is to get a tech school or vocational school degree rather than a liberal arts degree. I'm happy to have finally graduated, but I can't say as my degree in geography with a science emphasis has resulted in lucrative wages. My advice to high school grads is to get a degree or a skill in something that the world wants. Then get a lib arts degree.
I have to say something, if only because I went to Amanda's college (Bowling Green State U. in Ohio). Maybe the depressing thing is that her article could have appeared in the college paper when I was there (Class of '73) without too many changes. At the time, though, there was a kind of general theory in the Liberal Arts sector that college was not trade school; you were there to get an overall education and specialization would come later. It sounded a little defensive, maybe because Bowling Green really was a trade school in some respects: it had started as a teachers' college and still was a teacher mill. A typical student you might run into in the bars downtown on Friday night was probably a girl named Debbie from Cleveland majoring in Elementary Education, and her more idealistic best friend was majoring in Special Education. The common joke was that Debbie and her friend were also looking for Mrs. degrees, but even that aside, the idea of becoming a grade school teacher was at least something solid in the way of sensible career planning, and more than a lot of us were doing over in Liberal Arts.
Me, I had gone to college without too much in the way of future plans, mainly to see what turned up. Rather incredibly, something did: I signed up for a program offering a year abroad in Austria as a way to get off campus for a year, spent my Junior year in Europe, came back with enough credits for a German major, discovered I could learn other languages, too, and to this day I work mostly as a translator. It sounds fairly organized and planned out in retrospect, but at the time I was blundering blindly and stumbling into things by sheer dumb luck. So I'm not inclined to fault Amanda too much for her evident terror when faced with the future. It's probably only too understandable for this particular time in her life.
i was thinking that one ought to be "prepared" for real life by the time he steps into college...
5. Pop bubble wrap.
Yes, I'm serious. I got almost nothing out of college. I've also found that even computer science majors can't do any programming unless they've had actual work experience... Everything major-germane I've actually learned was through self-study.
Based on personal experience, Education majors ruin perfectly good women. One person I knew in college was a nice Republican girl(looking for her Mrs. too, ended up getting) that as well), she took a few classes and suddenly was full of this angry rhetoric against white males and patriarchal society blah blah blah. She's still not horribly liberal, but more so, and it's a shame. There were others as well.
If real life means cheating, binge drinking and sleeping around...then college grads are perfectly qualified.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.