Paul, I am always amused when someone who hears or reads
something they prefer not to hear or read, he or she pulls out the
insulted of being lectured to defense. Be that as it may, I
hadn't intended to share this, but I think I will. It's a student
response. This student--who has given me permission to share--is, as
you'll see, a non-traditional, mature, adult. She attended a northeastern
institution. I wonder if we dare to listen to her anymore than we dare to
reflect on Majorie's words.
"Dear ------(not me), I read all the "Random Thoughts" you send
me, but some of them affect me more than others. This particular one
addressed a major complaint of mine about college. When I graduated High
School, the last thing I wanted was to go to college. I married relatively
young, had Heather (you did get the invitation to her wedding I assume?)
and started to mature. Somewhere along the line, I had a hunger to learn
more. I read a good deal on my own but I longed to reenter academia and
"suck out all the marrow" that college had to offer me. This desire stayed
with me for decades until 1999, when I was able to fulfill it by entering
----. To a degree (forgive the pun) I was able to get what I longed
for--but only to a degree. I have been most disappointed that there is so
much focus on grades and so little on quality of learning. I received an
"A" in both Spanish I and II, but how much of them do I remember? They
have not become a part of my permanent easily-accessible store of
knowledge. I took the course Concepts of Physics because the subject
fascinated me (and still does) but we did not take a nice long time to
allow us students to really grasp those concepts. I find mathematics
fascinating, but I will not take any more math classes because I am
planning to apply for a Graduate Assistant post at WPU (to have the
inordinate costs of getting my MA subsidized) and I cannot risk my GPA.
Too bad. Too bad college is not so much a place of learning as a factory,
an assembly-line, where we put out--what, exactly? There are stated goals
each institution will print in its brochure with flowery language that
talks about maturing, education etc. etc., but what are its real goals? To
make money? To establish a good reputation? Even the most gifted
professors like ----- are often hamstrung by "requirements" and
"prerequisites" and articulation agreements which demand a certain amount
of material not be learned, but be "covered" in order for that course to
transfer with credit. Cheating and plagiarism are rampant because, I
believe, as in so much of society today, in college the superficial (i.e.,
the grade) is the goal rather than a good, solid EDUCATION! If the grade
is the end-all be-all, then any means of achieving that end is logical, is
it not? We spawn this mentality, then scream bloody murder when the kids
run with it in the best way they know how--by cheating."
"Despite this all, I do love college. I do not regret that I went,
but I am disappointed that I have not gotten more of what I longed for--an
education of depth and meaning rather than a curriculum that needed to be
covered....
Make it a good day.
--Louis--
Louis Schmier www.therandomthoughts.com
Department of History www.halcyon.com/arborhts/louis.html
Valdosta State University
Valdosta, Georgia 31698 /~\ /\ /\
(229-333-5947) /^\ / \ / /~ \ /~\__/\
/ \__/ \/ / /\ /~ \
/\/\-/ /^\___\______\_______/__/_______/^\
-_~ / "If you want to climb mountains, \ /^\
_ _ / don't practice on mole hills" -\____
---
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