College is a really wonderful time for many people. It’s when young people get to play at being adults without having the full responsibilities or consequences associated with adulthood. It’s a time for making friends, cutting loose, experimenting, and learning. Yes, learning is a part of college too; and not just in a broad sense like learning about yourself or about the world. College is a time for book learning and delving into a particular subject (your major) pretty thoroughly. Now part of what you should learn in all of your college classes is general intellectual development. You should become a better writing, a better thinker, a better reasoner, and a better questioner. But what you should also learn; what you probably won’t learn; are skills and direction that will actually prepare you for a career. Some college majors like nursing, accounting, or engineering do this to a degree but the majority of your arts and sciences majors will not prepare students in the slightest for the real world of employment.
So what do advanced level classes for arts and sciences majors prepare for? Essentially they prepare students for careers in academia. They entail a lot more reading and writing, focus on more challenging topics, and push students towards formulating their own research questions. In terms of intellectual development this is great, but in terms of helping students determine what sort of careers their studies could lead to and helping them prepare for said careers, these classes fall very short. Some college classes should simply focus on intellectual development but others, mostly the more advanced courses, should focus on career options and preparation, including careers that are outside academia. After all, a very small percentage of college graduates will actually pursue careers in academia and an even smaller percentage of them will succeed in obtaining them. There are, for example, lots of careers that a psychology major would be well suited for, including: counseling, human resources, law enforcement, social work, teaching, etc. Some of these careers may require further degrees and some may not but the point is that higher level psychology classes should begin to present career options like these and then provide students with the specific learning and skills they need to pursue them. I know that reformulating college classes in this way will be a challenge, but it will be well worth it when graduates are more successful in the job market…or at the very least are more focused and sure of what they are looking for.
Upper level college courses must have a greater focus on career options and the learning and skills necessary for possible career paths.
You may be wondering what this decree has to do with the overarching theme of the week. Part of the problem with everyone thinking that they’re special is that they lack an obtainable career focus. If college only prepares you to be the next Freud, Einstein, or Goodall, you are going to be sadly disappointed when you realize that you are not a special genius. On the other hand, if college prepares you for an obtainable career in a field you find interesting, then you will get that awesome sense of self-worth that only comes with achieving a goal. Most of us aren’t special, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be great at something. The sooner each of us figures out what that something is and incorporates it into our lives, the happier we will be.
As always I remain your all-powerful and benevolent Queen of the World,
Marisa
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