Instructions:
I need to find three websites or internet publications which offer insight into the purpose of college. After finding information which discusses what the purpose of college is or should be, I will need to complete the following list of items for each website/source:
In this thread I will need to provide a link to the website
I will need to provide a bullet point list of at least ten important points for the site. These main points should include what the site believes the purpose of college to be, things college offers, what college should not do, etc.
Provide a six to eight sentence explanation of your views on the site, your overall impression, your agreement or disagreement, strengths and weaknesses of the argument, good examples, etc.
Sample Post:
Link: http://www.life.umd.edu/classroom/univ100i/zinsser.htmlLinks to an external site.
10 Points:
Students are more worried about how they appear on their resumes and applications than about the people who they are.
Students have an end career in mind and no longer take courses to investigate.
The cost of college is becoming an increasing burden on students.
Students are no longer able to “relax” about their grades and enjoy the experience.
Students feel obligated to fulfill their parents wishes or pick a career based on earning potential and not desire for the career.
Students need to keep in mind that things happen and must take the opportunity and have the ability to adapt to the situation.
For an instructor or professor, a good student is not defined by the grade earned in a class.
Parents mean well, but often their advice turns into guilt and a burden for the student.
Parental pressure, peer pressure, academic pressure, self-induced pressure, economic pressure all conspire to weigh students down and stifle creativity.
Music, art, philosophy, classics, anthropology, poetry, religion are all classes which have value and not every subject has to directly apply to a major in order to have worth.
Explanation of Views:
When I was in college I had the wonderful opportunity to go to a very expensive private institution which had low enrollment and low professor to student ratio. I didn’t worry about the cost, the career, or completion, but took college as an opportunity to explore and figure out who and what I wanted to be. I feel and felt it was important to take a wide variety of classes, learn strengths and weaknesses, figure out what is enjoyable and what is barely tolerable, and then from these lessons decide on and build a career. It is my concern that students no longer have or want this type of experience. There is a constant need to complete degree and get a “job.” There is so much emphasis put on earning money and spending as little as possible that students push themselves too hard. The cost of a college education has become detrimental to the earning of this education. Students need college, but can’t afford to spend any time on college. College is no longer the experience it was designed to be. College is no longer about creating and improving a whole person. College has created stressed, hurried, and aggressive individuals instead of citizens of and aware of the world around them.