Yesterday I wrote about why the library card is so valuable and may even be more valuable than a college diploma. Is it really that ridiculous? I don’t think so, but—like any argument—it has some holes. Lets poke through some of them and see what we’re left with.
-You can’t put a price on the college experience. My time in college was a lot of fun and I met a lot of interesting people that are still great friends of mine today. Did I study a lot? Sure. Do I remember a lot of what I studied? Not really. Did I drink a lot? Hey, that’s college, right? But no matter what your academic experience is like, college will enrich and jump-start your social and professional life.
This is where you make friends, connections, even possibly meet the person you’ll one day marry. It’s also where you establish a network of peers that you can call on for professional help one day. In the library? By yourself? Good luck.
One of the things I wrote about yesterday in favor of the library card was that when I was in college I was immature. College is a great bridge that eases the transition between living with your parents and being independent.
-College courses provide interaction. Asking questions is one of the best ways I’ve found to encourage discussion and elicit original thought. When other people put forward their own opinions and scrutinize the “material,” it exposes you to different perspectives that broaden your own and make you more worldly. Without that, you are in isolation. Sure, you could read different books with different points of view, but it lacks the human touch of a back-and-forth dialog.
I learned this from many of my Philosophy classes: questions make you think and discover new things you didn’t know you thought to begin with.
Professors also offer their experience and knowledge the way books simply cannot. They can see things about you that you may not realize, like suggesting you read this author or go into this field. Again, an outside perspective is crucial.
- A college degree still carries weight, especially from certain schools. This is true. As much as we hate to admit it, names like Harvard and Stanford will catch a potential employer’s eye more than Chicago State University will. If you get into the right school, this can be a huge advantage over other job seekers.
What do you think? How much value does something that provides so much knowledge (like a library card or your internet service) have compared to a college degree?
Great post, and I so agree. I think I might blog about this idea soon.
Meant to comment on the original library card post. Whoops!
You might check out my post “Is College Worth the Investment” at http://www.thewisdomjournal.com/Blog/2008/01/07/is-college-worth-the-investment/
In many cases, the answer is no. But there are alternatives that can get you the same education for a lot less money!
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I think you might be missing the point completely. College isn’t about learning, for the most part, it’s about keeping the working class and the wealthy class seperate under the guise of “if you try hard you can make it big”. Capatilism at it’s best.