Want a degree in 5 minutes?
Read this article about a girl who has graduated from Univ. of Michigan in... 1 year. And I have to ask myself, how is this possible? And why would someone allow her to do that?
Perhaps I have a far-less popular view of the purpose of education. It's not just about taking enough credits to claim proficiency in a certain subject matter that makes an education valuable. It's gaining knowledge and experience that forms and shape you that is most important.
My own college experience was academically challenging to some degree, but it's not like I went to Harvard, or took only upper-division classes for all four years. Perhaps I *could* have (OK, not the Harvard part, but anyway...). Instead, I took classes that challenged my beliefs and my brain. I took classes with people and professors whose paths I never would have crossed otherwise. I worked on projects with other students that saw the world sometimes quite differently than I did. And all of that made me a better thinker, a more compassionate person, and (probably) an easier person to work and live with.
Many people, parents especially, look at college as a time to gain information that will lead you to a more profitable job. And it might. But there are plenty of successful people who either have no college or who dropped out (Bill Gates, for example). In reality, most motivated and intelligent people will find a job and they will move up the ranks and be financially successful. And a lot of really intelligent, college-educated people... won't. Maybe we have become so focused on the product of education (a degree) that we have forgotten about the process of education. Which, by merit of being a process, simply takes time.
I can admire a person who can leave U of M with a degree after only 12 months of study. But I also feel sorry for her. Sorry that she has missed out on 3 more years of growing up, of exposure to other people and ideas, and, simply put, of life. Is she really doing herself a favor by skipping that part of the experience?
I understand that she may not have the financial freedom to take 4 years to graduate. Perhaps she is from a family that needs her to get her education speedily so as to help with supporting the family. If that is the case, more power to her. She's brave to take on the world on her terms.
But if not, if it is just a matter of being bored with the process and wanting to be "challenged", which the article suggests, then someone should have intervened. Where was her advisor to tell her that she could and should get prepared for the workforce (and life) by being creative about what was challenging her? She could have spent time challenging more than her book-knowledge. She could have gotten involved with groups that help others, that provide insight into the world outside of hers. Work with City Year, be a volunteer with an international aid group, volunteer at her local hospice, organize students around an issue that is important to her, make friends, go on on a year abroad. Volunteer at the mental health crisis line. Play a sport. Learn to play (or even just appreciate) an instrument. DO something.
Learning is more than writing papers and taking tests. It's in the doing that we learn the most. And that, my friends, is a process.
Perhaps I have a far-less popular view of the purpose of education. It's not just about taking enough credits to claim proficiency in a certain subject matter that makes an education valuable. It's gaining knowledge and experience that forms and shape you that is most important.
My own college experience was academically challenging to some degree, but it's not like I went to Harvard, or took only upper-division classes for all four years. Perhaps I *could* have (OK, not the Harvard part, but anyway...). Instead, I took classes that challenged my beliefs and my brain. I took classes with people and professors whose paths I never would have crossed otherwise. I worked on projects with other students that saw the world sometimes quite differently than I did. And all of that made me a better thinker, a more compassionate person, and (probably) an easier person to work and live with.
Many people, parents especially, look at college as a time to gain information that will lead you to a more profitable job. And it might. But there are plenty of successful people who either have no college or who dropped out (Bill Gates, for example). In reality, most motivated and intelligent people will find a job and they will move up the ranks and be financially successful. And a lot of really intelligent, college-educated people... won't. Maybe we have become so focused on the product of education (a degree) that we have forgotten about the process of education. Which, by merit of being a process, simply takes time.
I can admire a person who can leave U of M with a degree after only 12 months of study. But I also feel sorry for her. Sorry that she has missed out on 3 more years of growing up, of exposure to other people and ideas, and, simply put, of life. Is she really doing herself a favor by skipping that part of the experience?
I understand that she may not have the financial freedom to take 4 years to graduate. Perhaps she is from a family that needs her to get her education speedily so as to help with supporting the family. If that is the case, more power to her. She's brave to take on the world on her terms.
But if not, if it is just a matter of being bored with the process and wanting to be "challenged", which the article suggests, then someone should have intervened. Where was her advisor to tell her that she could and should get prepared for the workforce (and life) by being creative about what was challenging her? She could have spent time challenging more than her book-knowledge. She could have gotten involved with groups that help others, that provide insight into the world outside of hers. Work with City Year, be a volunteer with an international aid group, volunteer at her local hospice, organize students around an issue that is important to her, make friends, go on on a year abroad. Volunteer at the mental health crisis line. Play a sport. Learn to play (or even just appreciate) an instrument. DO something.
Learning is more than writing papers and taking tests. It's in the doing that we learn the most. And that, my friends, is a process.
posted by Left Coast Sister at 2:30 PM
6 Comments:
excellent post. It seems likely that the cost of taking this course, this path, will show itself through the years.
LCS, I felt like I should stand up and applaud you! As an undergraduate advisor at a UC school I beat my head against the wall at least once a week trying to explain to students that the product will fail them, its the process they need. It seems this generation is distracted by the chance of 'thier name in lights' and misses their chance to actually make a difference (in their own lives or those around them). This latest post will be printed and hung on my door...I wonder how many will read it and realize it could be about *them*.
Thanks for your good thoughts!
Thanks for the thanks, mya. I know I learned a lot during my college yrs and the things I remember most are not what I was tested on.
Amen, sister!! I love that you posted this, and not me. There's A LOT of mixed messages out there in higher ed--like that college is important, blah blah--but yet college is just about getting things out of the way (so why not take college courses in high school). I'm really for letting high school students have smart, rigorous, challenging courses *for high school students*--and let college students be immersed in that environment. Here, I'm speaking about the dual enrollment programs (which I help administer at some level and hold great ambivalence for) which allow high school students to take college courses in high school. It's a great sell to parents, and there's nothing wrong with hs students having challenging coursework. But no wonder students see our courses as credits to get out of the way. The mixed messages drive me nuts...
Personally, I think you need at least 8 years of college or you really haven't experienced it.
exactly, extrem. that's why i took ~8 yrs to get a BS degree: i was thinking about how much i needed the experience. or perhaps what i really needed was a major, less sports, and a little study/homework time, it could be that also.
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