Lordy. I was reading a new yorker piece about the value of a college education--I guess everybody is up in arms about the rising costs of a degree and whether it has any economic value. I get tired of this conversation, while also being sympathetic to the issues. My perspective is so different from that of most of my students. They seem to just be ticking boxes while freaking out about finding a job that will enable them to repay loans their parents have taken out. I, meanwhile, was a high school fuck up who started at a shitty 4 year and transferred to a spectacular 4 year, paying my way throughout (well, okay, I got scholarships and subsidized loans, so that was not my dime, but worked my ass off to pay for living expenses and whatever wasn't covered, which was a lot and I was starving all the time), and was just so god damned grateful to be having the experience of learning. LEARNING. What a luxury. I loved it to bits. And I chose a major guaranteed to make me a career barista (linguistics), and somehow made a life out of it, all because that fire never went out. So yeah, times are different, but I hate to see people so cynical about the experience that they don't do everything in their power to get as much as possible out of every moment. RANT OVER.
The reason he was asking was a long and boring story involving a committee and a science center renovation. How they got from there to making junior profs ask their students idiotic questions is... well, you can imagine.
Sadly, this is something that still falls under "invaluable life skills".
ReplyDeleteDr. S: "Okay, what's the most valuable thing you've learned in CLASS?-
DeleteStudent: " How to talk to rich white people's kids."
Yep. I predict this kid goes far.
DeleteDr. S and I both hope the student will- a great kid. Needless to say, not white or rich.
DeleteLordy. I was reading a new yorker piece about the value of a college education--I guess everybody is up in arms about the rising costs of a degree and whether it has any economic value. I get tired of this conversation, while also being sympathetic to the issues. My perspective is so different from that of most of my students. They seem to just be ticking boxes while freaking out about finding a job that will enable them to repay loans their parents have taken out. I, meanwhile, was a high school fuck up who started at a shitty 4 year and transferred to a spectacular 4 year, paying my way throughout (well, okay, I got scholarships and subsidized loans, so that was not my dime, but worked my ass off to pay for living expenses and whatever wasn't covered, which was a lot and I was starving all the time), and was just so god damned grateful to be having the experience of learning. LEARNING. What a luxury. I loved it to bits. And I chose a major guaranteed to make me a career barista (linguistics), and somehow made a life out of it, all because that fire never went out. So yeah, times are different, but I hate to see people so cynical about the experience that they don't do everything in their power to get as much as possible out of every moment. RANT OVER.
ReplyDeleteThe reason he was asking was a long and boring story involving a committee and a science center renovation. How they got from there to making junior profs ask their students idiotic questions is... well, you can imagine.
DeleteKid is premed so he has made useful choices and grew up poor. I think this was mainly recognizing it was a dumb-ass question!
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