Intellectual Development vs. Jobs?

Casey Wiley:

Spurred by a "Why are you in college?" discussion I held with my Penn State composition students one day late last semester when rumors swirled of potential state education funding cuts and tuition hikes, an enthusiastic freshman journalism/English major from outside of Pittsburgh came to my office to "talk about her future." She's a good writer, works hard, talks a few times per class. She got right to the point: "Can I get a job with an English degree?"

I wanted to tell her not to worry about the college-to-job equation, that she's in college to broaden her mind, to question, to grow intellectually -- all the learning clichés that hold true. And anyway, what gets a person a job? Solely a degree typed on a resume? The direct skills learned within the major? The subtle, everyday-acquired social and organizational and problem-solving skills? But it is pompous and insular for me to expect my students -- most 18 or 19 years old -- to consider scoffing at this simplified college-to-job equation and just learn for learning's sake -- meaning, maybe, that hard learning now should lead to a solid, dare I say, happy, future. Be it as it may.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at August 29, 2011 1:40 AM
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