ON COLLEGE CAMPUS

THE REAL MEANING OF COLLEGE

Looking beyond classes and degrees

By Robert Lawrence

No doubt most high school graduates going off to college are excited. Away from home for the first time, living with a new roommate, experiencing a new kind of freedom, many students have a good time and they should. However, is that all?

After the good times are over, what are you really there for?

Some would answer that question by saying, “I am going to get trained so I can be a nurse, or doctor, or computer guru, or business manager, etc. etc. etc.” That’s okay, but is it enough? Suppose you get the education needed to make you successful in your chosen work field, will that provide meaning for your life? There are many people who succeed in their chosen careers, but who are also miserable! Another factor that is important is that most people now going into the work force will change jobs five times before they retire. You need to know more than just how to do one career.

Until about 35 years ago, students were urged to get a “liberal education.” Today most students zero in on preparation for a career and know little about “liberal education.” What is “liberal education?” It is not a political viewpoint, so don’t let the word liberal scare you off. This kind of education, in addition to preparing you for the workplace, also helps bring into your experience what the world is really like and how it got that way.

Here’s a test. Can you find Cambodia on the map? Can you name the six major world religions? Do you know who said, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country?” Do you know which country has the worlds’ biggest population? Who wrote a “Tale of Two Cities?” Can you name the first governor of any one of the 50 states of the USA? Why was Albert Einstein important? These and many other questions, if you can answer them, indicate you have a “liberal education.”

So what? Why is that important?

Not until you understand the world you live in and the world which went before you, can you possibly understand where we are going. Billions of people live on this planet, and most will come to the end of their life and never really know what it was all about.

So … think about sticking a few elective courses in your class schedule that have to do with other things than your future career. Let life surprise you — it can be wonderful. Think about more than football, basketball, soccer, dances and parties. Take time to be alone sometimes to walk in the woods, read a classic book, help serve food in a homeless shelter, go see a play, visit a science museum, learn another language and be good to yourself and others. Get involved in things that make you better. In other words, while you are in college, get a little education as well as preparing for a career.

Dr. Robert R. Lawrence is Director of Development at Schiller International University with campuses in Florida, England, Germany, France, Switzerland and Spain. He is also author of “America the Face of Hope,” a book about the greatness of America.