There’s an article that was
recently shared on another facebook group that I am on which stated that “college
is the path of least resistance for most.”
After my uncontrollable laughter, the anger came. I Instant Messaged my daughter who is a
sophomore in college. I think her eye roll was audible.
As I
read the rest of the article, I saw that it was nothing more than an
advertisement really for this program called Discover Praxis. I have looked
into this program and it sounds really, really good. From what I’ve read and the videos I’ve seen
on exactly how the program is set up, I am impressed. There are classes in philosophy as well as
business. I find it somewhat ironic that
the author of the article was upset about required classes in college that she
wasn’t interested in, when it sounds like Praxis has its own core of required
classes before you are placed in an apprenticeship.
As
much as I am impressed with what I have seen from Discover Praxis, I have
become very alienated by their college bashing.
There’s another advertisement of sorts for them with this young man
going on and on about why college is the wrong choice only to then go on and be
and advertisement for Discover Praxis. They
might want to rethink this approach since some of their prospective clients
might have siblings who chose to go to college.
But
let’s go back to this idea that “college is the path of least resistance.” Yes, committing four years of your life to
study is the path of least resistance. I guess I should be ashamed of my daughter
for writing a nine page essay on the letters between Einstein and Freud. Oh wait, maybe it’s her lazy classes like
Foreign Policy or maybe it’s her Middle East Economies class that really show
what a cop-out route she took in life by going away to college.
I
want you to imagine if I had written something saying that trade school is the
path of least resistance. How would that
be received? My son, who is a senior
right now, is not looking to go to college just yet. He is exploring other options. However, I
also told him about the “college is the path of least resistance for most”
quote and he had this look of bewilderment on his face. His response was, “I don’t believe that, but
whatever.”
In
the article the author states that you can’t take the classes that you want to
take in college. That is not true.
Colleges like Hampshire and Global College of LIU don’t have silly
requirements like English 101 or Algebra.
In Hampshire, students jump right in and take classes in their freshmen
year that would be considered to be only available to juniors and seniors in
most traditional colleges.
I am
troubled by a much deeper issue that articles like the ones mentioned and
videos dismissing college. First, there
is the issue of all of these young people having their choice repeatedly
bashed. Again, think of how it would
sound if pro-college people were putting out articles and videos bashing the
choice to go to trade school.
Then
comes the argument that college isn’t for everyone. Well of course it isn’t.
But how dare you say that it is the path of least resistance. Many people aren’t
up for four years of academic rigor after high school. How exactly is dedicating four years of your
life to academics including writing essays, reading some of the great works of
literature, and studying for exams (if you are in a traditional college) the
path of least resistance?
If
you don’t want to go to college, then don’t go. And yes, you could just as
easily become financially successful if you do not go to college as someone who
did go. But why put someone else down to
make you feel better about your choice? We have terrifying amount of not only
anti-intellectualism in this country, but a proud embrace of it right now. And we should all be terrified.
