All throughout our lives, we’re taught that doing well in school is important. “Get good grades so you can get into a good college.” “A low GPA won’t get you a job after you graduate.” These are just a few examples of what high school and college students hear on a regular basis from parents, teachers, and even peers. I won’t try to tell you that school isn’t important. It’s extremely difficult to get a decent paying job without an undergraduate degree, at the very least. But something we need to remember is that school and education don’t always measure up.
At the risk of stating the obvious, the purpose of going to college is to further your education. The goal is to study something that interests you and/or something you’d be happy doing for the rest of your life, and ultimately, to get a job with a salary that you can support yourself with. But that’s exactly what the problem is. You can ask any student why they attend college and I guarantee they’ll all say, “So I can get a good job.” But sitting in a classroom for hours on end while someone feeds you information about the powerhouse of the cell doesn’t mean you’re learning. Actually, in my opinion, all it means is that you have basic listening skills and can memorize some stuff. Getting a good grade on a test means you remembered what you were told to read. But let’s be real, what are you more likely to remember for the rest of your life: that stuff you had to read for a class you took or when you stepped out of the classroom and actually experienced something?
I’m lucky enough to attend a university that gives me many opportunities to get hands-on experience in a potential future career. They also offer several incredible study abroad programs. But not every school does. It’s up to us, as students and citizens of the world, to get up and seek out experiences that will teach us something we can carry with us for the rest of our lives. While reading is great, I’m not talking about cracking open a textbook and reading three chapters on accounting. Go travel; see what the world has to offer! Try something you wouldn’t normally do, and actually learn something about yourself. There are an endless amount of opportunities this life has to offer you that a classroom can’t.
I realize that not everyone has the ability to get on a plane and go wherever they want. That’s not what I’m talking about. Explore the city you live in. Even if you think you’ve seen it all, I promise there’s way more out there than you can imagine. Start a conversation with someone you don’t know. Learn about their experiences. Life is all about relationships, connections, and finding out more about yourself. Listening to a professor speak for two hours straight won’t teach you about any of that. Although it may seem like it most of the time, your GPA is not always an accurate reflection of how much knowledge you have. It’s literally just a number. And just because someone is better at differential equations than you are does not mean they’re smarter.
Don’t get me wrong. College is awesome and you should definitely go because it’ll give you a lot of the information you need to succeed in your future career, whatever that may be. All I’m saying is that it’s almost impossible to gain knowledge if you never experience all of the incredible things that are among you. Step outside of your comfort zone and figure out who you are and who you want to be. Because in the end, it’s not about how many A’s you got. It’s about what you actually learned along the way.
