As young children an array of endless questions and curiosities pave the way to growth, learning and intellectual discovery.
Somewhere between elementary school and sophomore year in college our devotion to learning seems to be replaced instead with an unyielding desire for success and wealth. To somehow achieve a balance between the two seems so precarious that many opt for skills over knowledge.
The effort put forth towards attaining a degree is usually the minimal effort required to perform the career skills necessary to produce a gratifying income. Rather than extracting from every lecture and book the type of thoughts that induce intellectual income, students instead value the nimble ability of climbing corporate ladders.
Granted, there are exceptions, and there certainly are those who are both fiscally successful and intellectually savvy.
The problem though, is the loss of intellectual appetite in the general student population. Notwithstanding, it is vital that the atmosphere of the classroom is conducive to growth and learning, not such that the student is being told rather than taught.
The manner and character of the professor can often make or break the student’s genuine desire to acquire and apply new information, which is why a professor’s enthusiasm for the material can very easily become contagious.
Universities shouldn’t merely be training camps for achieving personal wealth in a work force that is systematic and reduces us to thoughtless mechanical minions. Perhaps I am being hasty, but if we continue to devalue knowledge and true learning in order to replace it with a desire to do seemingly mindless, well-paying work, we have lost what makes us human: our ability to think.
Attending college shouldn’t be perceived as an obligation but as an opportunity for self-betterment, understanding, questioning and developing a well rounded sense of self and society. Knowledge is the one thing that the stock market, your future spouse or future employer can never take away from you. It is the greatest cultural currency that is most often taken for granted.
I often feel as though students are not here to appreciate the intrigue of new ideas but simply to go through the motions necessary to land that “perfect” job.
The greatest accomplishment is perhaps ones ability to continually increase their intellectual capacity, express thoughts and engage in discussion of the like. Remember what it was like being a little kid excited to learn something new long enough to realize there are very few things more gratifying and lasting.
Money may make the world go round for most people, but it doesn’t give us meaning. Our minds do, so in my book intellect will always trump money.
About the writer:
Betina Matoni is a senior sociology major. She can be reached at [email protected].
