What is the purpose of attending college? This question was recently asked by the instructor of one of my political science classes. As most of us sat fidgeting and looking down at the floor, one brave soul raised her hand. She said that the sole purpose of going to college was to get a good job and make lots of money.

The instructor cringed and then asked if anyone was at NIU for the sake of learning. In other words, was education in itself a reason for being here? The class just laughed at the very thought of what had just been said. Their minds had obviously been made up years ago as to what college is all about.

In talking to other students of different majors, I found the same basic attitude among them. They are in it for the money. They are in college and in a certain major to be trained for a particular job they claim to have wanted since the age of six. The mere thought of a balanced education in a variety of subjects seemed to them to be a nuisance rather than a benefit. I would be a millionaire if I had a dollar for every time I heard an accounting major complain he or she had to take seven hours of science in order to graduate.

Yet it is easy to see where the “money attitude” comes from. Anyone who watches daytime television is no doubt familiar with commercials that promise to train people to be everything from computer operators to diesel mechanics in two weeks. These “advertisements” come straight out and tell college students that we are wasting our time studying subjects that we will never use. Like other propaganda, if you hear it enough, you start to believe it.

The sad fact is that many people are being convinced to take shortcuts toward an education. Instead of trying different things and exposing themselves to a variety of subjects, people are opting for the specialized. They are substituting their education with job training.

Society as a whole also is partly to blame for the money attitude. The biggest award for most Americans is money. Making a lot of it and making it quickly is pretty much the epitome of the American dream. Consequently, when impressionable young people are bombarded with commercials telling them how fast and easy it is to “get the skills for a better job,” it’s understandable that they become confused. Values can easily become distorted by pictures of fancy houses and sports cars that these commercials promise. Showing an exhausted college student studying and moaning about the “success” of his younger brother who has been trained to solder electronic components is not likely to motivate many to higher education.

What is getting lost in all the hoopla about “getting that job” is the meaning of education itself. Being exposed to a variety of subjects is designed to enhance an education, not hinder it. Graduation requirements in the area of liberal arts and sciences are meant to show a student all the different aspects of education that can be explored.

Students who “don’t want to bother with books” and who only want “hands on experience” are depriving themselves of really being educated. Instead of thoroughly understanding a subject and its concepts, people with “hands on experience” wind up doing one thing over and over, sort of like assembly line work. After all, the reason many universities do not teach classes in computer operation is that operating is something students pick up while learning to program.

Maybe the important goal in life really is to just make money. It certainly is the most attractive. But students should always bear in mind that nothing can replace an education. Someone educated in mechanical engineering, with maybe a little history thrown in so he doesn’t reinvent the Edsel, is far more valuable to a company than someone who has been trained to put together a carburetor.

The different areas of learning, from history to quantum physics, all relate to one another in some way. It is only the educated who can see exactly how this happens and be able to incorporate knowledge from these different areas into his or her work. Sure, being trained may get you a great job, but being educated will get you a career.

A lucky break

01-26-1987

As I was walking to my classes on the first day of the semester, I spotted what I considered to be a good luck coin lying on the ground. After I picked it up and placed it in my pocket, I was sure that it’s protective powers would be watching over me for at least the rest of the day. A moment later my foot hit a patch of ice. I slipped but I did not fall to the ground.

At this point I could have looked at my situation in one of two ways. First of all, I almost fell and broke my neck, so perhaps this coin in my pocket wasn’t as lucky as I thought. On the other hand, I actually did not fall, I only slipped. Maybe it was the coin’s luck that kept me on my feet when I would have normally been on my behind. I am quite clumsy you know.

The reason I am writing this is to encourage anyone who needs the encouragement to always keep a positive attitude during this semester and during life in general. Often the quality of an experiene is totally dependent upon our perception of it.

Now back to my mysterious coin. Since I like to consider myself a very positive thinking individual, I choose to believe that my lucky coin did actually keep me on my feet that day. Let’s face it, no one actually knows whether I am correct or not in my choice of outlooks concerning the coin and slip in question, but in this world of uncertainty, I definitely need all of the help that I can get, or pick up off the sidewalk.

Michael Hagerman