<p>Writer Michael Craven observes: "Few today attend university for the purpose of gaining wisdom or giving care to the state of their souls. Instead, the emphasis is upon obtaining a degree that, it is believed, will insure material success. In fact, the whole emphasis of higher education today seems to be of an instrumental nature: a means to an end and not an end in itself . . ."</p>
<p>How should we view higher education? Is it a vehicle for the enlightenment of our intangibles or a paving machine for our road to riches?</p>
<p><strong><em>WHY did you--or WHY do you want to--go to college?</em></strong></p>
<p>I believe Michael Craven is correct, when he says that there are very few ‘soulies’, as I like to call them.</p>
<p>I’m one of them, though. I’m tired of running this rat race. I’m going to go to a good university, study because I enjoy studying that subject. Make great friends, do lots of fun stuff on college, take part in lots of clubs, because I actually like doing those things, and not because they’d good look on a grad resume. </p>
<p>I really am tired of being told to further myself so that I can get somewhere else, where I’ll be told to further myself in order to get another place. </p>
<p>I am staying here, and doing what I like. I believe that innate passion is enough to carry me through life successfully.</p>
<p>I believe that my kids think of a college education as I do. I see it primarily as an end in itself. I know my kids want to learn and to experience college for its own sake and not where it may lead. They value being educated and enjoy it a great deal. They love to learn and they love college. </p>
<p>That said, my kids, as well as myself, are quite cognizant of the fact that if someone has a college education, more opportunities in life will be opened. So, it is also important to be educated in order to have more doors open that may otherwise be shut without a college education. </p>
<p>However, I, nor my kids, feel as some do in terms of picking which college they attend or which major to major in, with the thought of which will be a means to riches. I have seen some parents discourage (or even disallow) certain majors as “not practical” or “won’t make much money” or same with certain schools which they think won’t get them to the “success” they crave. I think no matter which school you attend, you can be a success. Further, I don’t care what my kids major in and I believe one should follow their interests and the rest will follow. They are there to become educated. An educated person has a good chance to become a success no matter what they do, compared to someone lacking an education.</p>
<p>Nicely said, GHouse. It can be a nested loop (as the programmers say) of frustration, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing (as The Bard says).</p>
<p>I went to college to get an engineering degree so that I could pursue engineering as a career. I personally enjoy engineering and it pays well enough to live comfortably. I didn’t go to college just for the sake of learning. I could have saved a lot of money and learned at home by reading the textbooks. For most part, my college professors didn’t teach any better than a textbook did.</p>
<p>i applied so that I could learn about the things I felt most important. not to make a living. there are people who work to making a living, and people who change the world. which one are you?</p>
<p>I admit, I’m going to college for the degree. In today’s world it’s so important to obtain some kind of “proof” of intelligence. Going to college just for the sake of gaining wisdom, and spending 50,000 dollars while doing it, is just not worth it. If I really just wanted to gain wisdom I would go backpacking across the world or something epic. I’m just glad I get to pick what college I can go to, so I can put more emphasis on gaining wisdom rather than just a degree. Unfortunately, others may not be so lucky, which is a sad fact in this society.</p>
<p>I have always sought to teach my kids that the purpose of pursing an education was to enhance their ability to think, analyze things critically, and make a worthwhile contribution to society. I really don’t know how anyone can put a price tag on that. I am also adamant that they enjoy the process of gaining an education for its own sake. I believe that people who approach education in such a way have the greatest potential in life whatever their personal objectives come to be.</p>
<p>I would disagree that college is seen as a means to material success in itself–in today’s world, a BA/BS is a prerequisite to a potentially materially successful career. “It’s just something that you do.” Common societal perception, not mine.</p>
<p>I’m one of the people who truly wants to learn and enrich myself. Right now I’m at a school that is much more focused on giving me a degree than stimulating my mind, and I have to catch myself when I start buying into that notion. I can’t wait to transfer. In general, I think that this mindset is a reflection of bigger problems in our society.</p>
<p>"The infinite possibilities each days holds should stagger the mind. The sheer number of experiences I could have is uncountable, breathtaking, and I’m sitting here refreshing my inbox. We live trapped in loops, reliving a few days over and over, and we envision only a handful of paths laid out ahead of us. We see the same things each day, we respond the same way, we think the same thoughts, each day a slight variation on the last, every moment smoothly following the gentle curves of societal norms. We act like if we just get through today, tomorrow our dreams will come back to us.</p>
<p>And no, I don’t have all the answers. I don’t know how to jolt myself into seeing what each moment could become. But I do know one thing: the solution doesn’t involve watering down my every little idea and creative impulse for the sake of someday easing my fit into a mold. It doesn’t involve tempering my life to better fit someone’s expectations. It doesn’t involve constantly holding back for fear of shaking things up. #<em>$%. THAT. #</em>%@."</p>
<p>I think that’s worth thinking about. Life is too short to be bound by social expectations of success, and by the quest for money. Live as you like…but I think it’s worth trying to escape from what we are ‘supposed’ to do.</p>
<p>I went to college for the experience. I knew ahead of time that I wasn’t going to get every specific detail of Public Relations that I wanted but that didn’t deter me because I would gain what I needed through experience. </p>
<p>I think what fails people in college is the idea that you need to solely look at it as a vehicle for success/money. Guess what? That doesn’t come any quicker if you lack other attributes outside of a GPA. I’m not saying don’t do well because that is important, but people who spend their entire time in the library/room and do nothing to challenge themselves socially are failing themselves, imo.</p>
<p>College, for me, was a time for growth and self-discovery. Til this day, I don’t remember half the core I’ve taken, but I always remember the experiences, people and the classes I wouldn’t normally take that have altered my views on life. I wouldn’t change that for anything.</p>
<p>Will I find people in college, even competitive places, who aren’t opposed to the notion of doing well, but don’t want to be part of a damn rat race?</p>
<p>Dave, Pink Floyd puts it even better:</p>
<p>Tired of lying in the sunshine staying home to watch the rain
You are young and life is long and there is time to kill today
And then one day you find ten years have got behind you
No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun
And you run and you run to catch up with the sun, but it’s sinking
Racing around to come up behind you again
The sun is the same in a relative way, but you’re older
Shorter of breath and one day closer to death</p>
<p>practically everyone i know see college as an extension to a better career. the purpose of them even asking what people major in is to see what they can do with it, how much money they’ll get from it, not for the curiosity of the person and their own interests. sad, but true. very few people are interested when i tell them my major, because they can’t figure out what that major can “do”. it just makes me think of a joke. what can your major do? mine can jump and roll around. how about yours? lol</p>
<p>I haven’t read much of this thread but .. I’m going to college because I can’t wait to see my mind flourish and grow. Knowledge is such an incredible things, and well, if it leads to opportunity, then I’ll be killing a couple of birds with one stone. </p>
<p>I hope colleges will recognize that – that everything I’ve done during high school was the sake of passion, learning, curiosity, and not just another item to add to a list of extracurricular activities.</p>
<p>I have tried to focus on the material, rather than the grades, or the ends throughout my high school career. I’ve decided that you can’t be truly successful in these schools unless you focus on grades. A great essay, unique and creative, will probably get me a 5, for not following directions or meeting standards for an essay. A mindless, concrete, formulaic essay will get me a 9. It’s not a difficult choice. Choose the cliche answer, and I’m usually rewarded. Why would I push my intellectual bounds when there are rewards in place for mediocrity?</p>
<p>My conclusion: The school system couldn’t give a damn about my wisdom if it turned me into Midas. Their job is to get me the grades and other tangible measures of success. I’m going to college because that is just expected of me. I don’t know why. I wouldn’t say it is for the degree, nor the education, but the experience and development I’ll receive while I’m there.</p>
<p>I don’t mean to blame it on the school system, but their situation leaves few other options. You can’t hold schools accountable without some type of standard by which to compare them, at which point all teaching becomes achievement based rather than aptitude enhancing.</p>
<p>The most successful students in high school (academically) are not the most intelligent or hard-working. Far from it. Rather, they are the ones that know how to work the system; how to get their A’s with minimal work and time investment. </p>
<p>Our valedictorian cheated more than anyone else I know. She was recently dethroned by a kid who worked really hard, and does nothing but study and run cross-country. He took more APs than her. That was the only difference.</p>