School, or learning in general, is often approached the wrong way. You can cite standardized testing or the college application process as examples of ways learning can be misconstrued, when students are defined by a number rather than as an individual, but I find that the mistake runs far deeper. Learning is approached the wrong way by those who do the teaching, however, those who are doing the learning are not innocent either.

I recently had lunch with a fellow Villanovan, and we talked a lot about college and about life and about learning. Our conversation was very eye-opening for me and made me rethink a lot about what I had previously thought about college and the learning process. I eventually arrived at this conclusion: In regards to academics, college should not be about preparation for the future; by thinking that way, you lose yourself.

That’s a pretty scary conclusion, and you reserve the right to disagree with me on this, but hear me out. Obviously, what you learn and experience in college will help you in the future, but the point of college is not to plan out your future. The beauty of learning and the beauty of college is that it not only exposes you to different ideas of the world, but new information about yourself. It is easy to focus only on the amount of new knowledge you obtain, but learning is more central to forming your identity than it is to becoming a know-it-all. Mind blowing, right?

I was under the impression that college was four years for me to figure out what subject I would be most apt to enjoy and be successful in. I buried what I truly enjoyed underneath courses and subjects that I could tolerate and thought would be most beneficial in my future. Saying this, now, I feel pretty foolish, but what else was I supposed to think? Society teaches us to think this way, to always be forward thinking, to make rational decisions based on their results, to be smart about our future. This is not entirely bad -- we definitely need to be rational -- but associating this idea with the learning process is dangerous. It makes into learning a negative, extremely stressful experience. College is as much about preparing for the future as it is about learning and figuring out who you are and what you love.

This self-discovery is harder than preparing for the future which, perhaps, is why people don’t initially approach learning this way. Learning about yourself takes time and patience and is frustrating. Trust me, I know. I have felt lost and lonely and disconnected in college because I keep subconsciously comparing myself to preconceived concepts:I should be taking classes in subjects that are most likely going to be profitable in the future; I should have at least some direction as to what my major will be; I should be able to predict the future from a crystal ball and know exactly what I am going to do and who I am going to be in the future. It’s ridiculous!

Don’t get bogged down by these superficial assumptions. Don’t let other people dictate your college experience. Don’t let society’s expectations choose your path. Yeah, it may seem easier to take these four years to become proficient in a subject that will be relevant in the future, but you run the risk of compromising your sense of self, your identity.

I am undecided, meaning that I have not yet declared a major, and I am fine with that. Heck, I think it is fabulous that I am able to explore and take classes that may or may not be applicable to my future major. That is what learning should be about. It shouldn’t be about credits, or grades, or requirements, or future salaries, or GPA. It should be about becoming a wholesome, unique individual. It should be about self-discovery. It should be a process that is as revealing to you about the world as it is to you about yourself. Don’t get caught up in the minutia of your education because I can assure you that what you learn about yourself through school, through college, will be most useful in your future.