Barnard Opinion Article

Colleges and Universities A-Z Barnard College
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<p>eh… kind of disliked it…</p>

<p><a href=“http://media.www.columbiaspectator.com/media/storage/paper865/news/2007/04/12/Opinion/The-Barnard.Woman-2836574.shtml[/url]”>http://media.www.columbiaspectator.com/media/storage/paper865/news/2007/04/12/Opinion/The-Barnard.Woman-2836574.shtml</a></p>

<p>The Barnard Woman
By Jill Marcellus
Issue date: 4/12/07 Section: Opinion
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<p>Illustration by Christine DeLong</p>

<p>Ballet flats, leggings, a belt over a long blouse, inch-wide eyeliner. Do you have the mental picture yet? Yes? Congratulations, you’ve just visualized a Barnard girl. Pardon, Barnard woman.</p>

<p>We are strong and beautiful. We are pre-professional, pre-med, and pre-socialite. All right, so we’re also English majors, but we’re English majors with high-powered internships. Suggest otherwise and our wide network of influential alumnae will personally kick your ass.</p>

<p>This is where I should raise my fist to the sky in pride and solidarity, or high-five some of my sister interns and future job contacts. My arm, however, remains unmoved. Perhaps it feels out of place, clad as it is in a slouchy sweatshirt, and not even a Barnard one at that. I suspect, though, that my ambivalence about the Barnard woman has deeper roots than the Barnard uniform. The fact is, I came to college neither to jump-start my career nor to make important business connections. </p>

<p>Naive as it may seem, I thought I was here to over-analyze nineteenth-century novels and to self-importantly misinterpret various -isms. I thought I was supposed to surrender myself to the humanities, and find my soul in the dusty volumes that constitute a liberal arts education. Apparently I missed the brochure detailing how college is the best four years of networking of your life. </p>

<p>I somehow landed on a campus where academic seclusion is harder to come by than career advice. I understand that I will have to enter the work force and the real world some day, but college should not focus on providing professional experience. Instead, it should give us the experience of history, fortify our characters with literature, and generally prepare us for reality by buttressing our will to live. You can accuse me of callously wasting opportunities or even call me an impractical, young college student, but I refuse to put down my book in order to network.</p>

<p>On some level, I do understand the Barnard obsession with the Barnard stereotype. As Barnard’s validity is constantly questioned by idle Columbia students, it is natural to respond with a militaristic assertion of professionalism. I have read countless articles by Columbia undergraduates who are horrified by the thought that they may be in a class with people who have SAT scores averaging 50 points below their own. I, in turn, am horrified that I may be in a class with someone who still cares about my SAT scores. Are undergraduates only here to defend Columbia’s superior status, perhaps write a few papers to keep the graduate students occupied, and later attract more graduate students by lending our names and finances to our Alma Mater? For that matter, are we only here to use the University name as a crutch in our perpetual game of networking? If the answer is yes, then, well, I’ll lock myself in my room with a therapeutic copy of Pride and Prejudice. But I would much rather be doing what English majors are supposed to be doing: sitting around a table and engaging in lively, enthralling, and thoroughly unprofitable debates.</p>

<p>I have had enough of the networking workshops, the hilariously named Office of Career Development, and the general insistence on being a strong and beautiful Barnard woman. We need to stop focusing so much on our professional appearance and simply be, well, college undergraduates. There is nothing wrong with being an impractical English major with a minimum-wage summer job. Why must our college years be a stopover on the path to fame and fortune, instead of a time to question who we are and what we want?</p>

<p>I just wish that we could peel off a few layers of make-up and careerism, relax, enjoy some excellent classes, and abandon the image. After all, our mascot is a dancing bear. Let’s not take ourselves too seriously.</p>

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<p>She may have a point, but her tone is extremely rude--why not suggest kindly some changes instead of complaining? I'm sorry, but she sounds like a whiny teenager.</p>

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<p>But isn't she making the entirely valid point that one's college years should be a time of reflection, inquiry, debate, and research, without concern as to where it will lead or whether it's worthwhile under an economic cost-benefit analysis? I graduated from (a liberal arts) college 28 years ago and my time there was the most exhilarating of my life (and my college friends feel exactly the same way). One can't justify studying Dostoevsky or "France before 1789" on the basis of what it will do for you in terms of dollars, but doing so will make you a more thoughtful, interesting, intellectually curious, open-minded and confident person no matter what life path you choose. We need more liberal arts graduates, not fewer. College is NOT a trade school. There's plenty of time for that with med school, law school, business school, etc. My hope for my daughter (Barnard '11--yaay!) is that she will absolutely luxuriate in the opportunity she'll have to study things she's interested in as deeply as she can...it's an opportunity that will NEVER be repeated.</p>

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<p>yeah I kind of agree. and I mean I really love that barnard offers so many pre-professional options and internships. personally I feel like I've done a lot of what she was requesting in high school and I want more real-life experiences in careers I'm interested in. and I kind of doubt that she can't find intellectual situations... just flipping through course catalogues and everything and generally I have heard that the courses are very intellectual and not all about careers. I'm going next year though, so I don't know for sure now.</p>

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<p>Could be this mindset drifts in from West of Broadway; a downside of affiliation.</p>

<p>My relative now at Columbia thinks college IS a trade school. He's become obsessed with getting investment banking jobs, and the relative prestige of everything.</p>

<p>This is just a sample of one, but exposure to him & a few others was quite influential in my daughter's decision not to apply to Columbia. </p>

<p>Rightly or wrongly.</p>

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<p>Some of this may be from parents. My D is clearly of the "let's study what's interesting" school of thought. When I told her grandfather what her choice of major was he asked, "Who's going to pay her to do it?"</p>

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<p>A New Yorker cartoon: 2 women are walking across a college campus, and 1 says, "I met a really rich guy....he's an English major!"</p>

<p>Which is to say that Jill M has the luxury of not making her education "amount to something." A wonderful luxury which every 20 year-old should enjoy. My Barnard d just declared her major, comp lit, and my second d is looking at a possible English degree, at NYU. </p>

<p>But I don't think those enjoying this luxury can judge those who are more career-minded. Fact is women are still paid 70 cents to the dollar in equal work, so, yes, I think we do have to work harder to earn our way--something I didn't recognize when I was in college. </p>

<p>I felt very much like Jill M when I was a Barnard student--the stereotype she's describing was quite alive and I also found it annoying. But in retrospect I understand it and respect it more. My hope for Jill is that she not give in to careerism, but that she not judge those who seek career connections. Whether she realizes it or not, she's already building her future and already networking--it can't be stopped. But of course she should not put her book down. </p>

<p>And yes, there were always plenty of us with baggy sweatshirts and no makeup.</p>

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<p>I feel like that is pretty unfair. She's setting up a false dichotomy-English major and minimum wage summer job vs. Econ major (I guess) and high powered summer internships. Some people find their humanities studies ENRICHED by summer experiences, particularly given the offerings of NYC. And some want to study something they're interested in, but during the summers work on their career. She refuses to put down her book to network, so instead she'll waste her summer in a minimum wage job (where, I imagine, book reading is frowned upon)?</p>

<p>I never once went to a networking workshop. I never got the sense that they were particularly pushed on us, either. But if they didn't exist, can you imagine the outcry of people who WERE intrinsically (or by necessity--hi, student loans!) more career minded?</p>

<p>It does read as very self-absorbed and self-consciously high-minded. Like she's trying to educate people who aren't so fortunate as to have her profound understanding of art and literature and life.
(just looked her up. She writes for the Blue and White. That makes sooo much sense.)</p>

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<p>I have to say that I did not meet any girls fitting the stereotype when I visited Barnard. I saw a lot of girls dressed very casually, not much makeup. </p>

<p>Anyway, for a stereotype, that one doesn't seem to mesh with the info I'm getting from my d. My d. has been very proactive about arranging a summer internship -- but she pretty much found it on her own, and she wanted to get it lined up early so that she can apply for grant money from Barnard to fund it. </p>

<p>I would not that while my daughter is NOT looking for a big-money career (she looked for a summer internship with a human rights agency) -- she does NEED to earn money, both during the school year and the summer, so she definitely would not be satisfied with a "minimum wage" summer job. Any kid who doesn't have the luxury of a generous monthly allowance from home is going to look for jobs with a better return on their effort.</p>

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<p>Yeah, I have to say this article elicited a reaction of "HUH???" from me. The friends that my duaghter has do not fit this stereotyped at all! Just goest to show how narrowly focused points of view can be, and how the resultant picture can change!</p>

<p>IMO, that is one of the positive things about Barnard. It can be for you the place to "network" and gain the tools to extablish your "high-powered" career ; the place to explore many academic options and discover within yourself a love of science while continuing to be a dancer; or, as the writer of the story found, a place to just immerse yourself in learning about things that excite your "soul" (even if those things do not necessarily denote high earning potential); or all of the above and more...</p>

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<p>I should have said this more clearly: I do NOT disagree with the idea that college should be about learning and not networking; I agree wholeheartedly. I have never been of the camp that thinks one should be consumed with the money they will make in the future; one should enjoy their college experience. However, the author of this article comes off as snotty, spoiled, and disrespectful to her school and to other students. There are ways to criticize without pulling out the claws!</p>

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<p>It just seems like she has created a new stereotype in order to rail against it. I had never heard of any stereotype of Barnard woman as pre-professional networker... that stereotype fits Harvard a little better. </p>

<p>Barnard woman as uber-feminist? Yes, I've heard that stereotype and had that slightly reinforced through my contacts with Barnard. (In conversation my daughter's roommate mentioned "going Barnard" on someone, which apparently means taking someone to task over a sexist statement). </p>

<p>Barnard woman as strong and confident (and perhaps at times somewhat strident)? Yes... but that doesn't necessarily imply careerist or pre-med. </p>

<p>So is there a "new" Barnard women emerging all of a sudden? Or is she just seeing the same trend that is probably hitting many colleges -- as the competition to get into the top colleges goes up, and the expense of attending goes up.... there is more pressure on students to focus on career plans as well as college. After all, if you are going to graduate with a mountain of debt, you are going to have to pay it off.... and it will help to have a job that pays a little bit above minimum wage. </p>

<p>So yes, honied_dreams, I agree with you -- it comes off as spoiled and disrespectful.</p>