I think that Derek's "older gentleman" friend may have an idealistic view of
why students went to college back in the remote 60's. When I entered college
in 1954 (a good one, an Ivy League university) there was a reception for the
scholarship students at which I met the Dean of Admissions. He immediately
recognised me, to my great surprise. When I expressed shock that he could
recognise me from a single photograph in a university with thousands of
applicants he laughed and replied that I was especially memorable because of
my reply to the question, "Why do you wnt to go to Brown University?". My
answer, which I thought straightforward but which was apparently unusual,
was "To get an education." I hardly believe that it became more common ten
years later.
Bill Silvert
Brown '58
----- Original Message -----
From: "Derek Pursell" <dep1...@yahoo.com>
To: <ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU>
Sent: sábado, 23 de Janeiro de 2010 6:20
Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] now I've seen it all: Decline in education-
student's perspective
A good friend of mine, an older gentleman who has worked as president for an
environmental NGO in the northeast for years, put it to me in a particularly
striking way. He said, and I am paraphrasing, "In terms of education, the
reality in America is that a lot of people are going to college who
shouldn't." When I asked him to expound on his point, he said, "Ideally,
especially when I was going to university in the 60's, it was viewed as a
way of getting an education and expanding your mind and interests. The fact
it could lead to meaningful and satisfying work was an afterthought. The
point was education. Today, it feels like many students, and others have
said this too, are going for certification. Instead of education being the
end, it is the means to something else, such as a job position. It isn't
like I am saying that people should not try to educate themselves; what I am
saying is that the trend towards mass production of education (which very
obviously has led to some real shortcomings in quality) has damaged the
overall education of many students, and that some people who are students
shouldn't be; standards have dropped for entry to many universities, and it
shows." After hearing his thoughts, I thought about all the students I had
met as a student whom were there because their parents told them to go and
gave them the money to do so. Many of them didn't want to be there; they
only knew that college was expected of them and they wouldn't resist being
pushed into it, considering how many students these days treat college as an
extension of high school. I realize that the opinions expressed here seem
harsh and the evidence only anecdotal, but these are my personal
observations. In the same breath, my former advising professor told me a
story of a student years ago who came into his office angry. He asked the
student why he was upset and he said he didn't want to be there. My
professor
pressed him and asked why, and he said it was because his old man was
making him go to college. My professor informed him that he was an adult and
didn't have to go to college if he didn't want to. The frustrated young man
looked at him, nodded, thanked him, said goodbye, and as my former advisor
professor testified, he never saw him again. It appears as if at least some
people figure out on their own that college isn't for them, hm?
- Derek E. Pursell
