What is the purpose of college?
June 1, 2010
agriff16
“Go to school, get an education, get a job,” this is the phrase I heard from my parents since the day I was born. College has always been a part of my life, it was never an option. College was always viewed as a stepping stone in life, the stone that follows high school and comes before having a real adult job. However, it was not until this project that I was challenged with figuring out what the purpose of college really is. I had never thought twice about what the purpose of college was. The purpose of college was to get a well paying job. But is that really the only reason that there are so many universities all over the world? Just to help students get a job when all is said and done. I have realized that the purpose of college for me and many other students is to obtain the knowledge for a career upon graduating and also to help one grow as a person along the way. Universities tell you in the mission statements that the purpose of college is to gain knowledge and also to grow as a person. Parents push the idea that college is a place to gain an education to then get a job and also to grow as a person. While these three different groups of people all seem to have different views of what college is for, there is one similarity. College is a place to grow as a person.
Sarah Borchardt is a freshman at DePaul University this year. She came into college with the thought that college is a place to learn so you can then get a job but just as importantly, college is a place to grow as a person. Sarah grew up with the notion that there was no other option but college after high school, much like myself. She also came into college without much of a plan as to what she wanted to major in and with absolutely no clue of what she wanted to do after college. Sarah states, “I did not know what the hell I wanted to do once I got to college; I knew that there would be parties and fun stuff. I did not even pick a college until my parents forced me to choose the day before the deadlines and I chose the “enie menie minie mo” method. I’m happy with my choice though” (Sarah Borchardt, May 25, 2010, personal interview). For Sarah, growing as a person was more of the purpose of going to college than to get a career; however, she knew that without college she would not be able to obtain a career with the professional standing she wanted.
Most students begin looking at college’s junior year of high school and decide on a college by the end of senior year. I decided on my college freshman year of high school. Of course I had already decided on my future career by this point as well. In September of my senior year I applied to DePaul University, planning to major in Psychology for the purpose of one day becoming a therapist. I put all my eggs into one basket praying that all the hard work I had done my four years of high school would get me into my dream school. In November, I received my letter of acceptance and by the end of the week I had sent in the housing deposit. At this point I began looking at graduate schools. Most seniors in high school do not even think about what they want to major in when they get to college and here I was looking at graduate schools. I knew what career I wanted and I knew exactly how to get where I wanted to go. I never thought to stop and think that college might be something more than a place to gain an education to then go out and obtain a career. I knew there would be fun times and lifelong friends that are made along the way but I never understood why they called college “the best four years of your life.” To me, college was strictly the four years separating you and the working adult life. Well I am glad I came to college. I have gained knowledge that will help me with my career so far in my first year but more importantly, I have realized how much I have grown as an individual; more than the knowledge I gained.
Parents have a different outlook on what the purpose of college is for. Eran Frankel, a mom who wrote in to The New York Times regarding an article entitled “Plan B: Skip College” said, “My daughter is graduating from high school this month and going to college in the fall. The prospects are slim that she will find meaningful work with a B.A. in any field. But what we’re expecting of her time in college is that she will become a sufficiently skilled world citizen to be able to make successful future decisions about her life,” (nytimes.com). This mom reflects how many parents now days in this economy view college. It is expected that parents realize what this economy means for their children going to college. The National Association of Colleges and Employers’ Job Outlook 2010 report shows employers plan to hire 5.3 percent more new college graduates in 2009-10 than they did in 2008-09. This statistic may look promising, but it is important to realize that the numbers for employers hiring new college graduates was down 22 percent in 2009 than in 2008 (Lang, K J,). The job market is going back up but it is not going quickly enough that when college freshman now graduate in three years they will be promised a job. So then we are forced to view college in another way that is separate from the career aspect because many of us going to college might not end up with a job when we graduate.
However, it is important to realize what the basis of college is, education. I sat down with my own father, Chris Griffin, to ask him what he believed the purpose of college is for. My father attended college for two year and then dropped out to begin working. Years later he created Garland Griffin Homes, a home building company, along with his business partner. He had to educate himself on everything it took to not only run a successful business, but how to build homes and all the laws and rules that come along with building homes.“The purpose of college is to get an education to then go on to have a career. You can get a career without going to college but somewhere along the line you are still going to have to get that education a job requires and college offers. College is a place where you can more handily get the education you need for a career. It is not to say that without college you cannot have a successful career, I’m a perfect example of that, it is just easier to get that education from college than to get that education on your own,” (Chris Griffin, May 21, 2010, Personal Interview).
Colleges have their own view on what they are there for. DePaul University’s Visiontwenty12 is their latest campaign in bettering the university in which they hope will lead to “preparing women and men to be at the forefront of their chosen fields as ethical and socially engaged leaders,” (Catholic Identity). Other universities like Harvard University “strives to create knowledge, to open the minds of students to that knowledge, and to enable students to take best advantage of their educational opportunities” (Mission Statement -Harvard University). Columbia University, “Expects all areas of the university to advance knowledge and learning at the highest level and to convey the products of its efforts to the world,” (Columbia University: About Columbia). One thing that is similar among these three universities that is much like the rest of the universities around the country is that they want their students to gain knowledge and grow as a person from that knowledge. They want their students to go on and be the best citizens that they possibly can.
The purpose of college is to gain an education, hopefully a job, and to grow as an individual; this all makes sense to me. However, I cannot help but wonder about the exceptions. What about those people who do not go to college and end up working at McDonalds for the rest of their lives? What about the men and women who forgo college to fight for something bigger than themselves, in wars across seas? And what about those students who go to college but live at home? Are we saying that all these people do not grow as individuals because they did not go to college? It is obvious that these people still grow as individuals; it just may not happen the same way that it happens to college students.
Dr. Max Kaplan, a man whose teaching career spanned over 43 years said, “The immense variety of environments in which academic lives it purposes… Of course, the academic is not an abstract, but a community of students and scholars in the flesh. They share a general vision of society, of life in general and of themselves” (Kaplan 9). Regardless of what you may believe college is for, there is no denying that college forces you to grow; as a member of society, in your own life in general and in yourself.
Bibliography
“Catholic Identity.” DePaul :: Office of Mission and Values. Web. 31 May 2010. <http://mission.depaul.edu/twenty12/index.asp>.
“Columbia University: About Columbia.” Columbia University in the City of New York. Web. 31 May 2010. <http://www.columbia.edu/about_columbia/mission.html>.
Kaplan, Max. “The Campus and the World.” Preface. One Life: the Free Academic. Madison, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson UP, 1998. Print.
Lang, K J. “Job Outlook for College Grads Better, but Not Ideal | La Crosse Tribune Newspaper | Find Articles at BNET.” Find Articles at BNET | News Articles, Magazine Back Issues & Reference Articles on All Topics. 2 May 2010. Web. 31 May 2010. <http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3652/is_20100502/ai_n53778269/?tag=content;col1>.
“Letters – Roads to Success That Bypass College – NYTimes.com.” The New York Times – Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. 21 May 2010. Web. 31 May 2010. <http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/23/opinion/l23college.html?hpw>.
“Mission Statement – Harvard University.” Harvard Home. Web. 31 May 2010. <http://www.harvard.edu/siteguide/faqs/faq110.php>.
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