You guys shuffle from topic to topic too fast.
Kamak wrote:
Reyo wrote:
"Don't go to school kids, it don't mean shit and just costs cheddar!"
How about this then: Many college are full to capacity or overfilled to the detriment of people that want to be there due to the societal pressure that you're only worth something as a human being if you go to college. Considering one of my friends attempted suicide because her parents bred the thinking into her that a B in Calculus would kill her chances of getting into any college, I'd say this pressure is too much (though, it's a complicated issue, and equally to do with the fact that her parents are pretty much the worst people around). Add to this that to some people in certain majors or classes that they feel like they're being babysat for 3+ years (maybe never being too terribly challenged), or deal with difficult classes that are only difficult because of obtuse teaching methods or terrible professors that only teach because they're required to, and the fact that the job market is pretty much as caustic, if not more, to college graduates (since they can be overqualified),and you understand why some people are skeptical of how important a costly piece of paper is. Yes, college opens up opportunities to people that they wouldn't have without it, but it's not the holy grail in life, and part of the reason it is so special has to do with how scarce it can be. After all, there are a limited number of jobs that can ask for certain degrees, and the more people with that degree, the harder it would be to get that job, especially with the scientific field seeing budget cuts/freezes, schools being shut down and clumped because of costs, and it maybe not being very important to have a team of geologists/topographers/historians in every city. Adding people to these, or really, ANY field just due to them feeling like they're a more complete person because of it seems pretty backwards.
My point isn't "everyone ever should go to college", it's that if you're given the opportunity you shouldn't throw it away because "it's not required". People seem to think that just because people walk out of college with a sheet of paper and nothing to show for it that the entire experience was worth shit, ignoring the fact that sometimes it's because that piece of paper says they got an education in "art theory" which is about as useful as googling "art theory". 90% of it is what you study, and those people who are studying mechanical engineering, or Biology, or pre-med are definitely not wasting their time. Besdes, it sounds like you're suggesting we fix the issue of "we have too many people with the qualifications" by having people stop getting those qualifications, which I feel is completely short minded. There's more use for a skill, or knowledge than just regurgitating it for cheddar. Some jobs require that ability, which is great because then you can say you have it, but assuming your knowledge isn't "advanced video criticizing" you're going to have multiple reasons to know more about how the universe works.
Quote:
Reyo wrote:
Plus, some professions need higher education. You want to be a doctor, or a lawyer, or pretty much anyone of significance? Yeah, good luck getting that with your high school participation award.
And society still needs garbage pick up, mail delivery, and a host of other jobs that either require separate training or would be a waste to go to college for. Unfortunately though, these jobs get sidelined with the push to college, because they don't make massive amounts of cheddar, aren't glamorous, or don't fit into the "go to college, live the best life ever" mentality.
Luckily for us, though, we live in a society where we have plenty of people in surplus. We're not exactly in a shortage of garbage men or ditch diggers, probably because they're more high school kids looking for cheddar than adults who felt their time was wasted in college. I understand your point is probably more "not going to college is the end of the world". That's something I actually agree with. What I don't agree with is people saying "Don't bother with college, we need more ditch diggers."
Quote:
Reyo wrote:
Someone telling me that they didn't go to college "But could if I wanted to" holds as much ground as someone who tells me they won't join the military "But could if they wanted to". Really? Well go ahead and fucken do it. Me? I already did, I don't have to prove shit to anyone.
Just as you don't have anything to prove to anyone about whether you'd do something, no one has anything to prove to you. You could also jump off a bridge if you wanted to, but wouldn't it be pretty foolish to prove it just because someone said you wouldn't? While there are people who are assholes that will say "yeah, I could do that if I wanted to, I just don't want to" and you're pretty sure they probably couldn't, there's no excuse to be the asshole that needs it validated to recognize someone as an equal/that they can live up to their word. I have a friend that got into college but backed out, because it wasn't his thing. He realized the only reason he was going was because his mom made it a part of his lifetime plan to happiness, and he never questioned it. Having stepped back from college, he's now a lot more sure that he'd rather work in the culinary field. He might even go to culinary school in the future if things work out. He wouldn't have figured this out if he had gone to school to become an accountant like his mom had outlined for him, or if he eventually did, he would have wasted a lot of cheddar in the process on college. He had nothing to prove to his mom, even though she believed that he didn't go to college because he was lazy and "just tired of school".
All in all, there's different walks of life for everyone, and while there are a lot of people who chose not to go to college, or who squandered their chance to go because of stupid choices in high school, there are also people who made it and found it not to their liking. It depends on the school, environment, and most importantly, the person.
But unfortunately, society sweeps this under the rug and just insists that college is the only way to a pop flyin' life. Just like being a millionaire, or owning a certain product, or having a house, or being married or any other myriad of things. Only, in the sense of college, I've seen more family angst over someone not going/dropping out, than the fact that they're poor, or 35+ and unmarried living in an apartment.
The difference is your friend ended up finding his own plan that fit his own morals and interests. Again, my stance isn't "everyone should go to college forever!" it's that it's really shitty advice to tell someone that college is a waste of their time. If you're telling someone that because they are absolutely, 100% sure they just want to go to the police academy and become a cop, then alright, that makes some sense, but he could still go to college to better himself. If he does and finds out he either sucks at it, or absolutely hates it, then fine, but that'd be his own decision. All of this talk of "it's just an expensive piece of paper" is just ridiculous. I'm pretty sure the biology degree I get will be more than just an expensive peice of paper, and I'm definitely sure the same can be said about the chemical engineering degree my roommate is getting. That degree in dance appreciation? Maybe, but blanketing college as this giant waste of time is just as ridiculous as what you think my point is that everyone should just go to college.
The point is making decisions of your own, and not filling people with these ridiculous ideas.
EDIT: Now for something a little more on point.
The military in itself is something you need to be sure of no matter what gender you are. That's even more true now that they have holds placed on entry. There are manly and girly guys, and there are manly and girly girls. In my opinion you don't have to be any sort of type to get in and succeed in the military. Besides, females are already compensated just for being females. Seriously, you have 18 minutes to run 2 miles. Your maxing is my passing. With that said, if you're adamant on not joining just because you limit yourself, especially over being a female, then alright then...don't join. I think it's an asinine reason, but if you're freaking out over that before it'd even be a problem, then lord knows what'd happen when the other stressors hit. No, the military isn't hard, but it's still not by any means "easy". It's some kind of stereotype for military people to tell non military people to "totally join up dude", but I don't believe in that. You gotta make that decision on your own.
But just so everyone knows, there are plenty of people who are legitimately not cut out for the military (like, because of health reasons) who try anyway. People like my roommate, who's afraid to join because he doesn't think he'd bode well under the pressure, I respect, but those people who try I tend to respect a lot more.
Login
Register
FAQ
Search
