It is past the Labor day. The hot summer is ending and school has started here in the US. My previous blog entry (5/14/12) "Why college, why school?" happens to be the most popular entry, and I feel like writing my opinion about it again.
My wife is heading to school to study a subject (international business) and get credits for it as well. We had discussions as to her purpose. Why do you pay money/tuition and spend your time to go there? What is the purpose?
I went to the best university in Japan that has produced some Nobel prize winners. I studied at school for a long time until I got my PhD for molecular genetics (officially Biophysics, because the department happened to be Biophysics. My thesis adviser changed his research subject to molecular genetics after he got his position at the Biophysics department). On top of that, it is a common practice for biomedical researchers to do a post-doc, another extended period of training, and I did that, too. After all my experience, my take on schooling is that you go to school to prepare for the real deal. You go there because your current ability is insufficient for the real deal. You use school for training and improvement. It is a moratorium period, when you can improve yourself and become someone useful for a service or productive in a subject of your choice. Having a protected time to achieve the goal is great, and schooling is the time for your preparation for the real performance. Don't expect high paycheck when the quality of your service is not high.
Of course there will be counterarguments. A lot of people go to college by default. When they are young and fresh off high school, many of them think college is a place to find out what they will do in the future, or a place to find out what they want to do, or are good at doing. In other words, they are just buying themselves time.
I say it is late. If they don't have goal or purpose already, they better start thinking about them seriously. Think of Olympians. They have done their sport for years. At the age of 18, they usually already have 10 or more years of experience. No wonder they perform well and are amazing. Having a goal; that is the cause of the current difference between who had a goal and who didn't.
The reverse is true, too. When you are good at what you do, I don't think schooling, for whatever it is, is your high priority. Of course you can always learn more to be the best, but the need may not be urgent. When you are very good at something, you'll likely find yourself in a position of teacher rather than a student. You can legitimately ask, "Do I need to go to school to improve my game or business, or not?" For them, practice may be a better way to learn and improve their game.
Actually, people who are good at something have gone through a lot of learning experiences already, and not necessarily in a form of school. For example, people who make a lot of money basically like the subject of making money. They talk about it, they read about it, they find like-minded friends, make plans to make money and implement them. And they are serious about it. Their minds are occupied by the subject. That is when they can make a serious amount of money. Going to a business school may not replace or add to the hands-on exercise.
Once you get past a tipping point, conventional schooling (lectures, discussions, exams etc) is taken over by your self-teaching and learning, and the grade will be given in the form of something else. That is what happens in life.
What I would suggest to a student is a shift in his/her mindset. Switch from a passive learner to an active learner with a goal, to become a real deal.
With all I said above, I still do value schooling highly. Even if you attend school without a clear goal, schooling experience should help you in some ways. For example, a course you take out of curiousity can expand your scope and may change your life later. Life can be longer than you think. For another example, each course has a syllabus, and it should state the direct scope and expectations of the course. Eventually you should be able to use what you learn in the course somewhere. A seemingly useless biology class may help you to distinguish scientifically sound diet programs from unhealthy and unreal religio-sci-fi claims. An apparently useless history class may help you to understand the backgrounds of active political factions and save you from their mind manipulations. History can be a rich source of lessons, too.
Ignorance is not bliss. There are many people with agendas in this world, and ignorance will be on you. Because of that, I believe education is critical, whether in a form of school or not.
......However,...
I love "Forrest Gump". His approach to life is entirely different. He lives in the present. You don't need to plan things and make them happen in the future to be happy. Happiness is a state of your mind, and you can find happiness any time you can. If you can live like him, my argument above is like a piece of "make-it-happen" schemer's opinion. But I don't care. If you can live like Forrest, I am truly happy for you.
