Quote from Dr. Suess's, Oh the Places You'll Go
Upon graduating from high school you are often subjected to your standard, run-of-the mill commencement speech in which you are told of the potential your life holds, as long as you leave high school and do exactly what Mill suggests you do. Someone please let me know if this didn't hold true for your last couple years in high school, but towards the end of my high school career, I was told by so many teachers, counselors, parents of friends, etc. that upon leaving high school I need to go out into the world and explore. Try so many different things until I find what makes me happy. Participate in programs that will help me gain perspective on life and help me mature as a person. Travel as much as I can to see the world and other cultures. I was told over and over not to settle for something that I find to be mediocre, but to engage in these "experiments in living" that Mill describes until I find happiness and purpose in life.
And the thing is, I completely agree with what I was told. I think that is wonderful advice and when in my life I have kids of that age, I am going to tell them to do the same thing. I think that that is what everyone needs following high school. Unfortunately though, I feel it rarely actually happens.
I would love to say that a number of my friends are out doing exactly what we were advised to do, but I can't. All of my friends are doing exactly what I am doing: going to school and working part-time at a decent minimum wage job. Granted, I am from a pretty small, middle-income town, and for a lot of people the idea of traveling, exploring, etc. are financially just out of reach. This may not be the exact same case for some of you reading this, so there may be some disagreements. But honestly, I can count on one hand the number of kids in my graduating class (of 235 kids) that are participating in any non-traditional "experiments in living" as Mill would describe. A survey done in 2011 by the College Board of a sample of 2010 U.S. high school seniors showed that 74% of the students surveyed either enrolled in a 2 or 4 year college or enrolled in a training program. Meaning only 26% of other students from the sample went on to do something else. In the broad perspective of things, and in my opinion, that doesn't seem like a whole lot. Of course college in itself is an "experiment in living" of its own kind, but I feel as though the purpose of Mill's advise is lost on society when every member is participating in the exact same, one experiment.
This made me start to think though about why every one of my friends and I all ended up partaking in the exact same experiment of living. In short, why college for all of us? This, of course, brought Menand's article "Live and Learn" to mind. I thought of his theories of the purposes of higher education and tried to see which one is driving me to attend this school. And in doing so I realized that, if I'm being honest, it's none of them. I mean, of course everyone wants to be smart and learn, and I want to get high grades so I can get into graduate programs and get a good job...but that isn't why I came to college. There was never a single moment during my senior year where I even contemplated any other option besides attending college. Deferring a year, traveling, working for a year, joining social programs, and anything else besides going straight to college were never even considered to be an option. I never thought about this and then because of reasons that Menand offers I decided to go to U of M. I just applied to college because that's what it seems like you're supposed to do. That's what society pushes people to do. So while theoretically, all the adults in our lives tell us to go out and experience new things thinking it is going to happen, it is really just wasted advice. There will only be a small handful of people from most graduating classes throughout the country that actually take it. The rest will end up at college because it just seems like what you're supposed to do.
I think that the real reason most people go to college is the same reason I did, it is expected of you now. Going to college and getting a high degree is basically the only way you will ever get a job, so people just go because they feel they have to. Yes the people who run these institutions may argue about which is Menand's theories best describe the purpose of college, but I feel like those reasons are simply lost on people like me. I'm here because I have always been told I have to go to college and without the degree I will have nothing. And I know that is an accurate analysis of my life with and without a college education, but it is almost sad to me. Because of the societal pressures to attend college, so many of us will attend college, grad school, and immediately jump into a career. For a lot of us, those are some the only "experiments in living" we will ever get.
I also want to point out that I don't think people shouldn't attend college after high school. I just wish it wasn't such a standard expectation of every student, because there are a lot of kids who don't know what they want and would maybe benefit more from partaking in different "experiments in living". College is a great option after high school, but I don't think it should be seen as basically the only one. Life is so short that I think we need to take part in all the experiments in living that we can.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3eO9lKaZzo
Hey Heather,
ReplyDeleteI thought it was interesting that teachers told you to go and explore the world after you graduate. My high school experience was apparently much different than yours because all my teachers told me to go to college, then you should explore the world. Maybe I was told differently, like you mentioned, because I grew up in a small rural area of Michigan and traveling the world isn't really practical for people from my community. Also, I feel like going to college first is the best option for high school graduates because I believe young people will appreciate it more, after they work hard and graduate from college. Finally, I believe that college is the correct option after high school because a college degree gives a person more opportunities faster than non-college grads.
Heather,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that college isn't always the best option for every graduating student. In today's world, it is so true that it is expected of us to go to college - like you, I never even contemplated for a second doing something different. I agree with you that some people might not be ready for high school, but I disagree with you in terms of encouraging other "experiments of living." At least for the vast majority of people, most people simply do not have the financial resources to take a year off to do something amazing like travel abroad. This just does not make sense economically. However, I don't think that college is right for everyone, either. I think more people need to seriously think about deciding to go to college, as going to college is such a huge investment. Some people would be better off entering the workforce straight out of high school instead of spending a fortune on what may be a mediocre education.
I think your analysis of teachers’ encouragement to explore the world is very interesting. I personally feel, however, that college is definitely an experiment of living. I highly doubt that any two people’s experiences at college are identical. When applying to college, many students do not necessarily have an idea of what they are looking for in a school. I originally was in the architecture program here at UM, and I changed my major. I believe that my original decision to take architecture classes and become an architect was an experiment of living. I also think that my decision to change my major and explore my interests by taking other classes is an experiment of living as well. I agree that the idea of going to college is not the most dramatic or unique experiment of living (because like your experience, it was also expected of me), it certainly opens up many opportunities and provides you with many smaller-scale experiments of living.
ReplyDeleteHeather,
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised by the way you don't feel that the pressure of grades and such at all relates to the way you decided to come to college. To me, the societal pressure to do well is in part to get in to a good college and to make "a lot of money," which means different things to different people. I also think that there are, like others have brought up, some outlying factors you did not consider. While ideally, I would have loved to travel for a year and figure myself out a little bit more before I committed to a school, financially I was incapable. The current economy very largely affected a lot of my decision to come to the university itself. Also, you must keep in mind that for some coming to college is an experiment of living. Although where you are raised it is a standard, after coordinating a program at a charter school in Detroit last year, I found that there were many who either had no intentions of attending college or were the first in their family to attend. I think we must be careful to consider other perspectives and see that we are not the "standard" necessarily.
I agree wholeheartedly with many of the points you bring up in this post. In the blog I wrote dealing the Menand a couple of days ago I described the same phenomenon in that it is more of an expectation of students to go to college now. Not doing so is like shooting yourself in the foot because any career or interest you want to pursue later in life will undoubtedly require at least a bachelor's degree. Unfortunately, I think we are only going to move further and further away from people being able to pursue "experiments in living." I believe college will become even more of a given to attend after high school. In five to ten years a graduate degree is going to be the norm and not attending at least 4 years of undergrad studies will probably be unheard of. And in my opinion, when students adopt the view that you are talking about in your post (the one you say you even had) then going to college, although different from previous experiences, is not really a true "experiment in living." I say this because for students who are attending college out of expectations from others in doing, these students are not really pursuing their ideal path or way of living.
ReplyDeleteThe thing that makes this worse is that as pressure to go to college builds, more and more people who do not really want to attend college will be forced in to the four year way of life. I'm not sure of the answer to this problem, but one possible answer is reformation of the higher education structure. The reason I point to this is because employers are obviously going to continue to require an education, so it doesn't seem feasible that enrollment will decline and more students will pursue their ideal "experiments in living." Nevertheless, I do not believe that a change in the structure of higher education would allow for more people to engage in experiments in living. This is because college is still going to be about reading textbooks/learning and if this is not in the interest of the student to begin with, no matter how fun the classroom is made the student will still not be pursuing his or her ideal experiment in living. Anyone else have any idea on how we can go back to making “experiments in living” more attractive or even possible?