Found this quote interesting.

I’d guess the same is true for most college graduates. Tell me, what’s the point of spending 60-80 hours a week learning things that you immediately forget? Why I regret getting straight A’s in college

College is about developing a love of life long learning. Hopefully, after four years of intensive studying, the student should learn to love the acquisition of knowledge. They will continue with their education and earn graduate degrees as well! Wishful thinking, perhaps?

No one explains to students a major only really matters in some cases:

1. Getting an engineering, a research, or another highly specialized job. Otherwise, pretty much only your parents care about your major as bragging rights to their friends. No one majors in Sales.
2. Getting into a graduate program. Its easier to start a graduate program by having a related degree. Many will allow candidates to take senior undergraduate classes to catch up with the people who took the major. Why take them in grad school when you could have taken them as your major?

Students sadly expect picking a major to open the doors they need to get a job. The piece of paper mostly represents the former student’s commitment to working through the worst bureaucratic nightmare humans have ever created. Next, it represents the student’s mastery of basic concepts in an area (continue on through the Ph.D. / M.D. / J.D. / Ed.D to be an expert). College isn’t about getting you a good job. Its about helping you become a better person.

I figured this out my Freshman year as I was figuring out what I wanted to pick for my major. Explaining it to my friends really pissed off a few. They felt they’d were wasting their time in classes they would never use. Personally, I don’t think I’ve taken a class I have not used in some way. Of course, I really do have a love of learning, so maybe college worked for me.

tag: education, university