College and school in general...

[ArGenTin3]

Public schools (middle to highschool) are nothing more than a turnstile, all they do is make sure they meet their quotas so they can keep gettin' their govt. grants and what not. Especially the school systems in the inner city, they want you in and out as fast as possible, if you watched The Wire on HBO this past season it gave you the best look at what tha public school system is all about. And to top it off we all know teachers dont make shit for what they do, trying to teach a bunch of undisciplined children in this day and age has got to be one of the top 3 difficult jobs in America. Nothing is going to change, society needs people to flip burgers, wash cars, bag groceries, dig ditches, be cab drivers, stock shelves, etc. etc. etc., the government is completely content in the way the public school system works.
And it definately does not prepare you for college afterwards if you are one of the lucky ones to graduate.

 

[what it thizz]

i'm still in high school and it's pretty obvious to me that you can learn as much out of college as you can in.
Unfortunately you need a piece of paper to demonstrate this, and only colleges give these out. But college is also about experience and networking, which if one dived straight into work they couldn't recieve, so college is necessary for some careers, especially in todays age, but it doesnt need to be.
my friends dad didn't go to college and is the head of the west coast distribution chain that owns restruants like noahs bagels and lives in blackhawk.
my girlfriends dad majored in wildlife and is basically the fourth in command at chevron.

life is what you make it, don't dwell on what you've 'accomplished' at college, focus on what you can accomplish in life

 

[dali]

Alexander the Great never went to college, and he ended up conquering half the world. You do make a good point there.

I would rather be taught by one of the greatest thinkers of all time, namely Aristoteles, than go to college and deal with average lecturers myself.

 

[rawtunes]

im in college to get my degree so i can have something to fall back on if music production doesnt work out how i planed...also im a business major so im takin classes that will help me run my shit after i get...plus im meetin alot of cool people...the bitches is aite...and the whole college experience was a good transition for me into being an adult...the downside is general eduaction classes which are bullshit you have to take just like high school...the money situation is hella gay unless you get grants and shit...professors dont give a shit about you and you dont kno ur grades till hella late...and most colleges is like 60-70% white...nothin wrong wit white people but damn you be wishin sum other races would fuck wit college too...and the black or mexican people that go there half of em are hella square so if u aint square its hard to relate to people. ..and i go to sf state which is litewieght diverse..so i really feel sorry for the 1 nigga at UC Santa barbara or sumthin like that...but yeah bottom line niggas be thinkin about that degree and nuthin else...maybe the bitches haha

 

[Lamberto Quintero]

That about sums it all up right there.

"Why am I the one doing all the hard work? I could run this business way better than my Manager!"

"Why am I the one setting up the equipment? I can rap way better than Rapper XYZ!"

etc. etc.

The bottom line is that, without college, the textbooks you could "just read" wouldn't exist. You'd have to spend hundreds of extra hours combing through books and compiling the good information for yourself. This is assuming you already knew what was good and what was bad....which you probably wouldn't.

From a less philosophical point of view......sure, just buy the books and read them. If you have questions, I'm sure there's some online forum you can go to. And if you can pull it off, I'm sure you can find a few university websites and e-mail the professors themselves (which would be hard, unless you went out of your way to find out what they specialize in, and not just ask general questions; otherwise, they'd probably tell you to bugger off).

The reality of the situation is that people need college to learn, mainly for the motivation and structure it provides. Self-motivation is not enough for 95% of people. 95% of people who drink 3+ times a week COULD NOT quit drinking cold turkey for a year or more. They WILL come up with excuses, they WILL say "there's no good reason to continue".....they simply cannot keep up with it. Excuses, excuses, excuses. In college...there are only so many excuses you can get away with, so it forces you to work.

Me personally, I hope to be going to school for the rest of my life, or at least, constantly learning new things. Eventually I hope to become a professor, not necessarily because of my love of teaching, but because I want to take so many more classes (Latin, Greek, Arabic, Swahili, Islamic Studies, MBA, Law, Political Science, Linguistics.....too much shit.)

I could easily speak on college for another page or 4, but I'll stop for now!

I see what you're saying and you are mostly correct with your points, but the point I'm making is that I'm paying "X" amount of dollars to get an education I could get by just reading the books myself. Many teachers don't give a shit for whatever reason, and all they do is lecture out of books. The personal motivation to learn is destroyed by schools rather than enforced, do you agree with that?

 

[WHITE DEVIL]

im in college to get my degree so i can have something to fall back on if music production doesnt work out how i planed...also im a business major so im takin classes that will help me run my shit after i get...plus im meetin alot of cool people...the bitches is aite...and the whole college experience was a good transition for me into being an adult...the downside is general eduaction classes which are bullshit you have to take just like high school...the money situation is hella gay unless you get grants and shit...professors dont give a shit about you and you dont kno ur grades till hella late...and most colleges is like 60-70% white...nothin wrong wit white people but damn you be wishin sum other races would fuck wit college too...and the black or mexican people that go there half of em are hella square so if u aint square its hard to relate to people. ..and i go to sf state which is litewieght diverse..so i really feel sorry for the 1 nigga at UC Santa barbara or sumthin like that...but yeah bottom line niggas be thinkin about that degree and nuthin else...maybe the bitches haha

Square = people that succeed in life
"Stay real" niggas = people that dont

 

[Lamberto Quintero]

^^^ Na man, I know EXACTLY what dude's reffering to. It's especially common with Latina women in college, their families put them on a pedastol since they are the first of the family to attend college. This happens with a lot of panzy Mexican males too. It's sad when you have to attend a college with over 30,000 students walking around thinking they're the shit because they are there. And people feed into this bull shit, believing that just because someone is in college they are somehow better than those who never attended. I have a million times more respect for the man that wakes up every morning to go to do hard labor and feed his family than for most of the punk ass people in college acting like they own everything...

 

[MaddDogg]

College is a great way to expand your horizons by allowing you to go new places, meet new people, and MOST IMPORTANTLY expand your social and business network.

Most jobs available don't even make it to Craigslist or a newspaper. They are filled by people who know people, friends and acquantinces from way back, and people to the second degree. No matter what quality of the college you attend, there will be future CEOs, HR people, managers and successful people who will remember you down the road if you make an effort to meet with them in college. And no, you don't have to be from privilege or in an elite group like a fraternity to meet such people. You meet them through school assignments, sports, parties, etc etc.

Personally I also believe college was an educationally rewarding experience. I learned a lot from several teachers. Sure some are assholes and some classes are general ed, but it is the work ethic, one on one debate in person and assistance from those who have been around longer and are well studied that make you a more well rounded person.

 

[MaddDogg]

It's sad when you have to attend a college with over 30,000 students walking around thinking they're the shit because they are there. And people feed into this bull shit, believing that just because someone is in college they are somehow better than those who never attended.

I went to a school of 35,000 undergrade. Tuiton was $900 a semester until the California budget cuts made it $1,500 my final year. Perhaps my school was more of a blue collared institution, but never once did I meet someone who thought they were the shit because they made it to college, nor did I meet one student who thought they were better than someone who chose not too. I do not deny these people exist but I think that is an unfair perception you make about people in college.

 

[MaddDogg]

I would rather be taught by one of the greatest thinkers of all time, namely Aristoteles, than go to college and deal with average lecturers myself.

Classic philosophers were all taught a basic frame work to expand their knowledge from mentors above them, many in a college like setting, and their works were perfected through debates and criticism from other educated people. They did not simply read books and become great.

 

[Lamberto Quintero]

I went to a school of 35,000 undergrade. Tuiton was $900 a semester until the California budget cuts made it $1,500 my final year. Perhaps my school was more of a blue collared institution, but never once did I meet someone who thought they were the shit because they made it to college, nor did I meet one student who thought they were better than someone who chose not too. I do not deny these people exist but I think that is an unfair perception you make about people in college.

I am exaggerating, but you'd be surprised. There are a lot of good people who go to college, but then again, there are a lot of idiots too. From my experience, I say it's about 50/50...

 

[dali]

Classic philosophers were all taught a basic frame work to expand their knowledge from mentors above them, many in a college like setting, and their works were perfected through debates and criticism from other educated people. They did not simply read books and become great.

I know all that. My minor is Antique Culture. I never said they simply read books and became great. I know who the mentor of Aristoteles was and i know the teacher of his teacher. My response was directed towards dirtyshoes, for he said that Alexander never went to college. All i was saying is that being taught by a thinker like Aristoteles is not necessarily worse than being taught in college.

 

[MaddDogg]

I know all that. My minor is Antique Culture. I never said they simply read books and became great. I know who the mentor of Aristoteles was and i know the teacher of his teacher. My response was directed towards dirtyshoes, for he said that Alexander never went to college. All i was saying is that being taught by a thinker like Aristoteles is not necessarily worse than being taught in college.

I would agree with that. Didn't understand the context of your point.

 

[Dirty Shoez]

I see what you're saying and you are mostly correct with your points, but the point I'm making is that I'm paying "X" amount of dollars to get an education I could get by just reading the books myself. Many teachers don't give a shit for whatever reason, and all they do is lecture out of books. The personal motivation to learn is destroyed by schools rather than enforced, do you agree with that?

No. You can either get a lot out of college, or you can get next to nothing. My teachers are always commenting in class about how nobody stops by during office hous. Why? Because students are busy fucking around on MySpace or Siccness or Facebook during their break, instead of getting that EXTRA INSTRUCTION right there at their disposal!!!

And anyone who says "Yeah, but what about when class XYZ has 100+ students!"--shut the fuck up and get serious. Most classes for your major will not have 100+ students, and EVEN WHEN THEY DO, the professors will have extra office time by appointment...which has been the case with 100% of my larger classes. Every last one.

As far as personal motivation.....I'm more motivated now than ever. I saved a few textbooks and didn't sell them because I KNEW i just wanted to sail through the class and get a good grade....but later on, I really did want to learn all the material.

Too many people are worried about how much money they're going to make after they graduate. It's the same thing as dating a girl, and through the whole first week or two thinking/saying "So when we gonna fuck?" 150 times a day. Focus on TODAY, and worry about TOMORROW..... TOMORROW.

It sucks that college costs what it does, but that's the way of the world. if you don't like it, then yeah.....pick up some books, learn everything by yourself, then walk into a college and take a test, and they'll usually GIVE you the credit as if you took the class.

The catch? Only about 1% of people (or less) do that... Why? ONLY 1% OF PEOPLE ARE CAPABLE OF DOING IT!

 

[Dirty Shoez]

And just to add.....because I feel like it: My PT job while in school is pure Manual Labor. Not because I have to.....I want to. Keeps me grounded.

So 10 years from now when I'm running an office, or in some other administrative position, if some little shithead goes running off at the mouth about how easy I had it.......me and him will have a sit-down, and compare past work experiences, how many times he threw out his back, got tendonitis, lifted so much he could barely move his shoulders, etc etc.

 

[rawtunes]

Square = people that succeed in life
"Stay real" niggas = people that dont

totally false...you can be succesful and still be who you are...if ur from the hood and you go to college why do have to change to be succesful...i see it too often when somebody gets out of college they change into soceity's norms and kinda forget who they really were they saw they grown up but you really just conformed to what everyone thinks you should be like...and i would also consider you a square if ur in school and ur totally bullshtin cuz you really dont wanna be there too

 

[Lamberto Quintero]

No. You can either get a lot out of college, or you can get next to nothing. My teachers are always commenting in class about how nobody stops by during office hous. Why? Because students are busy fucking around on MySpace or Siccness or Facebook during their break, instead of getting that EXTRA INSTRUCTION right there at their disposal!!!

And anyone who says "Yeah, but what about when class XYZ has 100+ students!"--shut the fuck up and get serious. Most classes for your major will not have 100+ students, and EVEN WHEN THEY DO, the professors will have extra office time by appointment...which has been the case with 100% of my larger classes. Every last one.

As far as personal motivation.....I'm more motivated now than ever. I saved a few textbooks and didn't sell them because I KNEW i just wanted to sail through the class and get a good grade....but later on, I really did want to learn all the material.

Too many people are worried about how much money they're going to make after they graduate. It's the same thing as dating a girl, and through the whole first week or two thinking/saying "So when we gonna fuck?" 150 times a day. Focus on TODAY, and worry about TOMORROW..... TOMORROW.

It sucks that college costs what it does, but that's the way of the world. if you don't like it, then yeah.....pick up some books, learn everything by yourself, then walk into a college and take a test, and they'll usually GIVE you the credit as if you took the class.

The catch? Only about 1% of people (or less) do that... Why? ONLY 1% OF PEOPLE ARE CAPABLE OF DOING IT!

I am not gonna disagree with you because you are right in that the student has to get everything out of college himself and through his own work. But all I was saying is that their still need to be improvements in schools from elementary all the way up to colleges.

Educating the youth is the most important thing in terms of the future of this world, and when a lot of people go uneducated (for whatever reasons), it doesn't do anybody any good.

 

[HiT-2-TiMeS]

well if you pick bullshit majors like psychology, sociology, broadcast journalism, etc. yeah you are really not going to learn that much. try going to school for something hard like engineering. you are not going to learn engineering shit by yourself by reading books.

 

[Lamberto Quintero]

^^^ Why would you say those are bull shit majors?

 

[HiT-2-TiMeS]

because what the fuck are you going to do with a psychology major? psych is what people pick because they cant think of anything else. same with sociology. mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, civil engineering, etc. that shit takes a lot of work but you will make bank and that is what we need more of in this country not more fucking sociologists.