An Answer to A Question

One of the great things about college is that you not only learn skills that will help you in your career, but you also have the opportunity to learn some life lessons.  For those that have gone to college you will probably remember thinking "Why in the world do I have to take these classes that have nothing to do with my major?"  It's OK, you can admit...I thought the same thing.  However, I'll be the first to tell you that thanks to the professors in these classes, I learned more from them than I ever thought I would.  Therefore my word of advice to all those that are thinking of not going to college, trust me GO it's worth it.

One day, in my environmental science (or something similar), the Professor posed a question because he asked something, and the whole class must have been asleep or something because he got nothing.  So, annoyed, he said something about us not answering the question and said: 

-"Why do you think you're in college?"  

-Obviously, me thinking I knew everything, was the first person to raise my hand: "Well, professor, to gain the skills we need for our career."  

-His answer: "It amazes me that what you said is the first thing I hear in every class that I ask this question, but you're wrong!"

I was puzzled because that's honestly what I thought I was in there for.  A couple of students went on to try to answer his question to no avail.  In the end, he did not give us the answer which drove me crazy, and every once in a while I remember it...and at the most random moments.

The other day I was shopping in Walmart and I started thinking about this question again.  I think I came up with an answer that might make sense.  

If not the skills needed to be successful in your career, what could it be?  My very last course before graduating, was the dreaded Senior Project.  It involved students from various areas of study, collaborating to take a concept, market, support it and present it to a mock board of directors in 12 weeks.  I have to tell you, that was an experience that I would never forget.  

I was forced out of my comfort zone and had to think out of the box to resolve problems that had nothing to do with my major, and if you think about it the college experience is like that.  In many of my courses, professors would ask questions that didn't have a direct answer.  You would have to actually think and form your own opinion on issues.  By doing this students gain an ability known as critical thinking.

In all my courses, but especially in the Senior Project, we had to be disciplined. We had no set schedule like other courses, so we had to decide when to meet in the classroom, work on our objectives, etc.  The first few weeks, as you can imagine, we took advantage of this and our first board meeting was a disaster because almost no work was done.  After that, we made our own schedule and stuck to it, if anything we modified it so that we met more times.

At the end of the day, in college you are learning skills to become a good citizen.  

HAHA eat that Professor!!!

Do Contra