Anybody who has ever been to a four year college knows it’s not supposed to be easy. You’re not supposed to just get by; you’re supposed to spend hours studying and go to class because you are the best this society has to offer (or at least that’s the bullshit we feed ourselves). We know it’ll be expensive and we all plan on being done with our undergrad degree in the planned four years.
But that doesn’t happen.
I don’t know anybody who can graduate in four years. Well at least not without Summer school. Four year universities don’t exist anymore, but there are plenty of five year schools.
How come? Surely majority of people who go thru those big school house doors don’t fail that many classes to hold them back. Some of them do but everybody has their fuck ups. There has to be another reason…and I think I found it.
The reason it takes so long to graduate is all the unnecessary classes students are forced to take.
Why does a pre-med major need to take British lit? Why does a TV broadcasting major need so many semesters of science credits? What the hell does science have to do with TV? I know what you’re thinking “People need to be well rounded and know something about multiple subjects.” That’s true but that’s what high school is for. When you go to college you want to focus on what you’re going to do for the rest of your life. If I wanted to know about different rock formations I’d sign up for the class on my own don’t force me to take it. Kids nowadays have to take just as many hours out of their major as they do in their major. That shit cray! And it’s a waste of time and money. I don’t give two craps if the lawyer defending me doesn’t know how the slave revolt of 1712 affected upper class whites in New York. But he sure as hell better know how to keep my black ass outta jail!
I would rather be a master of my craft than a jack of all trades master of none.
Schools just want your money. The longer you stay the more you have to pay. They couldn’t have most of their tuition checks…I mean students leaving in two or three years. Gotta squeeze every penny they can out of ‘em. Make us take a ton of useless classes =in school forever. Let us just take our major classes =done in a couple years. True there are thousands of two year schools out there but they don’t offer as many majors as the four years. Also, those two years don’t have the same respect in the job market.
So we’re doomed. We can either pay a ton of cash for 4-5 years to take a bunch of classes filled with information we’ll never use just to fulfill a credit or we can go to a two year school and get a degree that won’t hold as much weight. I didn’t go to college to get an education; I went to get a job. If I wanted to learn about subjects that span the universe I’ll go to the public library. I want to be the best at what I chose to do and I’ll take two or three years of training in just my profession over random math classes.
There has to be a solution to this problem. I wouldn’t have addressed the problem if I didn’t already have a way to fix it.
Schools should start letting students choose different plans. Some people don’t mind taking as many classes as they can. So let them. They can have their math112 and their history 319 and all that. But let people who want to get in and out as soon as possible do that. No need to keep people there longer than they need to be…but then of course they wouldn’t get their checks.
College is part of the American Hustle. First off, Noah Webster was all about free public education hence our public schools, but seeing how a High School diploma can't get you a job worth taking anymore, education is no longer free is it? If you want a decent job with benefits, you have to have at least a 4 year degree, and in most cases anymore in this economy, a Masters or Doctorate.
ReplyDeleteSecond, College doesn't guarantee a job. I've had a person with a Master's Degree bag my groceries. I'm sure their Master's wasn't in grocery bagging, and I'm sure their pay check barely pays the minimum monthly payments for their student loans.
Third, College doesn't guarantee you'll know how to do your job. Textbook experience cannot compare to real life experience. I took a class on Federal Income Tax Accounting after managing a tax office doing people's taxes for a year, and it was nothing like real life. Half the stuff in the textbook was wrong, at least it would be according to the IRS.
Fourth, College doesn't guarantee productive people. George W Bush has an MBA from Harvard whereas Bill Gates was a college drop out. Nuff said.
This makes me wonder why on earth do we still put so much stock into college? People who do the hiring are normal people. It's not like they are being bought by the colleges and universities. It's almost common sense anymore with people like Dr. Phil out there that a college degree doesn't guarantee anything except a big bill requiring someone to need more pay to pay that bill. Anyone whose been there knows the focus isn't on learning but kissing the teacher's butt.
I think the reason people are so stuck on making a college education a requirement for hire is because of monkey business...
Sorry it's already long, but here's a story I stole from someone on facebook that explains it all...
Start with a cage containing five monkeys. Inside the cage, hang a banana on a string and place a set of stairs under it. Before long, a monkey will go to the stairs and start to climb towards the banana. As soon as he touches the stairs, spray all the other monkeys with cold water.
After a while another monkey makes the attempt with same result, all the other monkeys are sprayed with cold water. Pretty soon when another monkey tries to climb the stairs, the other monkeys will try to prevent it.
Now, put the cold water away. Remove one monkey from the cage and replace it with a new one. The new monkey sees the banana and wants to climb the stairs. To his surprise and horror, all of the other monkeys attack him. After another attempt and attack, he knows that if he tries to climb the stairs he will be assaulted.
Next, remove another of the original five monkeys and replace it with a new one. the newcomer goes to the stairs and is attacked. The previous new comer takes part in the punishment with enthusiasm.
Likewise, replace a third original monkey with a new one, then a fourth, then the fifth. Every time the newest monkey takes to the stairs he is attacked. Most of the monkeys that are beating him have no idea why they were not permitted to climb the stairs or why they are participating in the beating of the newest monkey.
After replacing all of the original monkeys, none of the remaining monkeys have ever been sprayed with cold water. Nevertheless, no monkey ever again approaches the stairs to try for the banana. Why not? Because as far as they know that is the way it has always been done around here.