I sat sheepishly on the fifth row so I wouldn't draw attention to myself; It was my first day of college and the last thing I wanted to do was seem too eager. My professor, Dr. Borse, came striding into the class, stopped, pointed at the girl on the front row and said, "why are you here?" She seemed a bit stunned but replied, "this class is on my schedule."
"No, no, no. I mean college. Why are you in college?" Dr. Borse said.
"I want to make money," she boldly replied.
"Ah, money makes the world go round." He stated to the class more so than to her. "Your first lesson in my class, students: There will never be enough money."
His words gave me pause. Why am I here? I thought to myself. Am I here because I bought into the lie most college kids buy into, that college is synonymous with a bigger paycheck, or because I have some driving passion to be a political science major? I think back to high school and the resounding message I still hear in my ears: Go to college. I can't think of a single time I didn't think I was going to college. I've always known that was the only option, it never crossed my mind not going was one. I remember thinking as a child that college was a purgatory of sorts for teenagers in order for them to become rich adults, and I think that idea still carries for most college students. It's not the students fault either, it is the parents and teachers who have presented college in such a way. It's understandable that parents and teachers want budding adults to be successful, but making money the reward of college is foolish. Money is never going to be enough. I can hear the physical therapy, engineer, and pre-med majors objecting now, but no, none of those majors will provide enough money.
Money is a tricky thing. It is never the root of someone's actual problem, but rather the means to support a problem. One may actually be obsessed with power, and money provides the means to be independent and have authority over people. Or, someone may have a fear of never having enough and money is the security blanket. The end of the line is never money, money is used to fulfill something more. By telling young adults the key to making more money is going to college, we make education a meaningless grab for more.
Education should be a grab for more, but not meaningless. We have made education this rough patch students have to get through and achieve the golden degree to make a lot of money as adults, and that is devastating. Education in itself is powerful, even without the promise of money which is something educators and parents must encourage for the next generation of college students. What is happening with graduates today is a disappointing realization they are not guaranteed to make more than their non-college educated counterparts and that was not what they signed up for. Money is never going to be a good enough reason to be in college because it is not a guarantee; it is not going to fulfill any deep desires or insecurities, and it is most definitely not going to make the rest of one's life worthwhile. There is never going to be enough money.
Why college then? If it's not about the money, what should it be about? If one's reasoning for being in college isn't he or she really wants to become a doctor or a lawyer, if one simply is in it for the money-- not the passion of the job--what is a good reason to be in college?
The will to learn. Learning is not geeky, nerdy, or weak. To love learning is to love oneself in the purest of forms. Learning opens all kinds of doors in places one may never think would be open. There is never going to be enough money in the most unsatisfying way, but there is also never going to be enough knowledge in the most satisfying way. I encourage college students to love learning and remember college is not synonymous with big paychecks and no problems in the future. So I ask college students reading this:
Why are you here?
