the way things are now
Going to UCLA has been rewarding in some ways but mostly pretty discouraging. Not in the way that I hate being there or anything, but mostly in the global sense. I'm not making much sense now but you can never tell the way things are going to go just from the beginning. (This is a general theme of things).
I find that all people want to do is go to grad school. in the more formal context: this is the general plan of the ultimate college bound individual (taken in the words of the internet)
1) go to college (preferably a prestigious UC school that costs lots of money)
2) Schmooze with the teachers until your nose dies of being brown
3) Get into the most awesomest grad school and pay more money
4) ????????
5) retire and laugh at all your money.
Now, why does this sound like a good idea at all? Firstly we are all pre-conditioned to think that college is the gateway to all that is holy and you would never be able to succeed at life without college. This is a sad and ludicrous truth. Success can always be achieved but never in the way that we all seem to think its supposed to be achieved. People who do not fit in with the college way can always fit in another way in society. People lead perfectly happy lives as long as they do whatever they want to do. The persuit of happiness does not always include a prosperous road in college. College also does not account for those who college is not directed toward. This usually includes the more creatively inclined individual. I was recently chastised for writing a paper that was too flowery for science. I used poetry to explain the way i feel about unconvering secrets of the past via archaeology. This is why i dont get A's. College is not catered to the mind that asks why not. One must conform to the ultimate goal that is college or one does not succeed in college. Yes, it is that black and white.
I've been feeling disenfranchised lately because i have to mold myself to the collegiate expectations of my teachers. This is not the way i have intended to learn. I am a deviate procrastinator that makes my point through talking and doing, rather than test taking and bubble filling. I know there are certain limitations to how teachers can teach because of classroom size and all that. I dont blame them to taking the road that they do, its not their fault. Its the institutionalised ideals that come along with going to college that are to blame. The majority of people do well on multiple choice tests, and lecture atmouspheres. This is what the universities pump out. The majority of society is a product of the ford production line of the universtiy standard. I'm okay with this and i definately see where they are coming from. However, where do we cultivate the small percentage of minds that dont think this way? The minority of people who learn in a different way and think in a different way are not rewarded by the educational system. This is a huge contradiction to what its seems the higher learning institutions are trying to tell us. They tell us to think differently and venture outside the box, but where does this actually happen. I dont think a multiple choice gives any freedom to think differently or outside any box other than the box you are supposed to be filling in.
This is what college produces. Little box fillers that live their lives in this pre determined path they or their parents have set out for themselves so they can fullfill their lives in a meaningful and stable way. Why is this so? Whos life actually turns out this way? This is so delusional! people punch their time card all the way through school and then when the time actually comes to do something with their lives, SURPRISE college didnt fucking teach you that. or when they dont get the job they want or what if something catastrophic happnes in your life where shit didnt turn our the way you expected, well GOOD LUCK FUCKER is all your degree is going to tell you.
The ultimate goal of the graduate experience.
Okay, so you did your undergrads and got some stellar grades and just couldn't wait to go to grad school right? so you fill out your papers and get all your ducks in order and your teachers write such lovely recommendation letters and your grad people go OOOOHHHHH and everyone shits bricks right? okay, i get this, im not upset at people who get into grad school and do their thing. its okay, im proud of you even. But what is the value of your degree to you? People who really should go to grad school i understand but what about the other 85 percent who go because what else is there to do? or their parents want them to? or they want that awesome eliteist feel other their peers? This is my gripe:
The grand majority at UCLA wants to go to grad school because it will make their feel more elite amongst their peers. The instituion definately makes us feel like we're some special smart minority that should feel elite for going to their school. However it in no way makes us feel like we have to go above and beyond college for more college. The students themselves are the perpetuators of this notion. All students feel they must go on to grad school or they are just another stick in the mud. What people dont understand is that there are so many different ways to continue your education. People look down upon those that take time off from college to do real life shit and then choose to go to grad school. But why this stigma? people are smart any time they go to grad school, why does the difference between ages mean anything? In my opinion it is so much more respectful if you dont go to grad school right away, see what the world has to offer you, then decide if you want to continue school. That way you can know seriously if you really want to be there or not. Plus more dedication and more passion will be shown if you wait and decide that yes, this is really what you want to do. Rather than flownder through grad school only to find out that you wasted your time.
Dont waste your time. Do what you want, despite what the people around you think about you. Most will envy your renegade ways and wish they werent in their prison of their own expectations.
I find that all people want to do is go to grad school. in the more formal context: this is the general plan of the ultimate college bound individual (taken in the words of the internet)
1) go to college (preferably a prestigious UC school that costs lots of money)
2) Schmooze with the teachers until your nose dies of being brown
3) Get into the most awesomest grad school and pay more money
4) ????????
5) retire and laugh at all your money.
Now, why does this sound like a good idea at all? Firstly we are all pre-conditioned to think that college is the gateway to all that is holy and you would never be able to succeed at life without college. This is a sad and ludicrous truth. Success can always be achieved but never in the way that we all seem to think its supposed to be achieved. People who do not fit in with the college way can always fit in another way in society. People lead perfectly happy lives as long as they do whatever they want to do. The persuit of happiness does not always include a prosperous road in college. College also does not account for those who college is not directed toward. This usually includes the more creatively inclined individual. I was recently chastised for writing a paper that was too flowery for science. I used poetry to explain the way i feel about unconvering secrets of the past via archaeology. This is why i dont get A's. College is not catered to the mind that asks why not. One must conform to the ultimate goal that is college or one does not succeed in college. Yes, it is that black and white.
I've been feeling disenfranchised lately because i have to mold myself to the collegiate expectations of my teachers. This is not the way i have intended to learn. I am a deviate procrastinator that makes my point through talking and doing, rather than test taking and bubble filling. I know there are certain limitations to how teachers can teach because of classroom size and all that. I dont blame them to taking the road that they do, its not their fault. Its the institutionalised ideals that come along with going to college that are to blame. The majority of people do well on multiple choice tests, and lecture atmouspheres. This is what the universities pump out. The majority of society is a product of the ford production line of the universtiy standard. I'm okay with this and i definately see where they are coming from. However, where do we cultivate the small percentage of minds that dont think this way? The minority of people who learn in a different way and think in a different way are not rewarded by the educational system. This is a huge contradiction to what its seems the higher learning institutions are trying to tell us. They tell us to think differently and venture outside the box, but where does this actually happen. I dont think a multiple choice gives any freedom to think differently or outside any box other than the box you are supposed to be filling in.
This is what college produces. Little box fillers that live their lives in this pre determined path they or their parents have set out for themselves so they can fullfill their lives in a meaningful and stable way. Why is this so? Whos life actually turns out this way? This is so delusional! people punch their time card all the way through school and then when the time actually comes to do something with their lives, SURPRISE college didnt fucking teach you that. or when they dont get the job they want or what if something catastrophic happnes in your life where shit didnt turn our the way you expected, well GOOD LUCK FUCKER is all your degree is going to tell you.
The ultimate goal of the graduate experience.
Okay, so you did your undergrads and got some stellar grades and just couldn't wait to go to grad school right? so you fill out your papers and get all your ducks in order and your teachers write such lovely recommendation letters and your grad people go OOOOHHHHH and everyone shits bricks right? okay, i get this, im not upset at people who get into grad school and do their thing. its okay, im proud of you even. But what is the value of your degree to you? People who really should go to grad school i understand but what about the other 85 percent who go because what else is there to do? or their parents want them to? or they want that awesome eliteist feel other their peers? This is my gripe:
The grand majority at UCLA wants to go to grad school because it will make their feel more elite amongst their peers. The instituion definately makes us feel like we're some special smart minority that should feel elite for going to their school. However it in no way makes us feel like we have to go above and beyond college for more college. The students themselves are the perpetuators of this notion. All students feel they must go on to grad school or they are just another stick in the mud. What people dont understand is that there are so many different ways to continue your education. People look down upon those that take time off from college to do real life shit and then choose to go to grad school. But why this stigma? people are smart any time they go to grad school, why does the difference between ages mean anything? In my opinion it is so much more respectful if you dont go to grad school right away, see what the world has to offer you, then decide if you want to continue school. That way you can know seriously if you really want to be there or not. Plus more dedication and more passion will be shown if you wait and decide that yes, this is really what you want to do. Rather than flownder through grad school only to find out that you wasted your time.
Dont waste your time. Do what you want, despite what the people around you think about you. Most will envy your renegade ways and wish they werent in their prison of their own expectations.