Re: The Mindset List - What Incoming Freshmen Know
One of the biggest changes I would like to see is the mindset towards college in general. College tuition is a small mortgage, and kids who are going into majors with 0 added value are basically wasting money to party. I see a recessed economy as an opportunity to cut the fat and embrace a new mindset about college in general; college should prepare the future contributors to our economy. I know I'll get roasted, but I don't see the value in training someone in majors like womens studies, or hospitality management. Those are something one could learn on their own without spending 60 large to do it.
This viewpoint is a common one, and while I also see some fat to cut, it's also important that we don't throw the proverbial baby out with the bathwater...
A college education in the USA should be about much more than job or vocational training. If it were only about job training, community colleges can play that much more role efficiently...
When conceived and executed well, a four year education opens the mind, fills the soul and exposes and challenges people with different experiences, opportunities, and points of view. It should train one to one to think critically, write persausively, and reason through complex issues, no matter what major you choose.
Socially, colleges also help teenagers become effective adults through the skills acquired when merging thousands of people into the same spaces to live, learn, create and lead together, often far from the comforts of home.
In short, it's about much more than your major - It's about creating the modern mind, self discovery and opening your heart to become the a more complete and effective human being, fully able to contribute to society.
I was a history major in college (one of those majors that many find "impractical" ) and frankly while the pure history facts I learned were of marginal value, the experience of reading, writing and thinking with other smart people was of HUGE value. I learned how people created the world we live in, and how people shaped events, and how events shape our world. Writing big papers forced me to find and shape information into a coherent point of view. Reading great books and having professors help me to understand them helped me to see how big ideas work (or not). I use THOSE
skills every day, even if I can't quite remember who signed the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713.
Additionally the experiences I had working for the college newspaper and living in a fraternity house were defining personal experiences that really shaped who I am, how I perform and what I value.
When I hire young people now as an executive, majors and GPAs are much smaller considerations than many young people believe. I look for capable and expansive minds. We can teach people about our business, but we want minds that are supple, flexible and able to pull ideas from different places into coherency. That's what a good college can do for a young mind.
