In the 21st Century it has become required for almost any type of job to possess more than a high school diploma. Added to that is the fact that college is pressured on every person in the Western society. As a college student working on my Associate of Arts I am required to be "advised" each quarter to help me along my chosen career path. Every session with the adviser involves being asked "what do you plan to do after getting the AA". My response for the longest time was "I don't know"...and sometimes even "I might stop college after I'm done". The latter response is considered the most foolish choice one could ever make. I am then ushered to look upon the chart depicting the statistics of the incomes earned by various degree-wielding persons. The message is clear. The more money you spend probably getting brainwashed in a "higher institution" the more money you will make afterward.
Its all worth it isn't it? America's middle name is money - not freedom. Somehow, someone decided that the occupants of the world will not reach their full potential without an education. Whatever education means.
Not that I dislike college necessarily. I just cannot bring myself to believe that my ultimate fulfillment as a person will be found by going to college and getting a degree. Many life lessons are not taught by people titled professors and many things cannot be experienced in a crowded dorm. Have we forgotten all these other aspects to life? Or have we all become so intoxicated with accumulating more and more knowledge to the point where we are slaves to our intellect and no longer have the time or energy to enjoy something as simple and undefinable as a starry sky? Are we too busy building a modern tower of Babel?
1 comment:
Absolutely college education is over-rated. Reminds me of my essay on college I posted forever ago. (I hope that didn't sound . . . pointedly proud.) The only reason I'm going to college is because me getting to do what I want to do as a living appears very unlikely without a four-year degree. (I'm also burning time until I'm old enough to go into that line of work.) So, I bide my time. But more and more, I think--or at least hope--that people are becoming more aware of this ridiculous Americanism: the necessity of college.
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