What They Don't Tell You About College

Parents:  Cover your kids' eyes.

Kids:  Close your facebook.

General Public:  Viewer Discretion Advised:  The following is not for the squeamish. 

This sentence must contain something so interesting that it retains your attention for the rest of the post; because I consider the following information so important, I'm going to try my best:  Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair. 

I'm allergic to copper.

Are you still reading?  Excellent.  Prepare to have your mind blown:

What you learn in college in 4 years you could learn on your own in 6 months.

Ask any college graduate, and I mean any (English major, Engineering major, Political Science major [that's me], Nuclear Physicist, whatever) this question:

How much of what you learned in college did you use in your first job? 

If you get a different answer than a variation of the following:  "Well ... not much actually, I learned pretty much everything I needed to know 'on the job,'" then I'll remove this post from my blog.

Go ahead.  Do it!
What They Don't Tell You About College #2:  
College is a business, just like Microsoft and Apple:  their goal is to make a buck.

Quick!  What's the first thing that comes to your mind:  EXPEDIA!  Dot ________.

That's a jingle.

Now, consider your favorite college:

Texas A&M University:  Gig 'Em __________.
University of Texas: Hook 'Em ____________.
Texas Tech University:  Raider!  ___________!  (Sorry Tech fans, no one knows about your school.)

That's also a jingle. 

I'm just promoting awareness.  Remember that even though it's a college, you're still paying for the marketing, just like on a bag of Lay's Potato Chips.

Sometimes, the generic brand tastes just the same.

Professors aren't teachers.

Ever sit in a college classroom and, after 5 minutes, your brain goes into a coma?  (Your secrets safe with me ... and the blogosphere ...)

That's because college professors are not teachers.  They're academics hired to bring prestige and money to a University through the medium of grants.  They have a huge impetus to publish research so they can obtain tenure, cementing the fact that you will, indeed, never understand the difference between a plagioclase and potassium feldspar.

So, instead of engaging in meaningful teaching techniques, they Talk, Talk, Talk ...

Talk ...
             Talk ...
                            Talk ...

about their research.  And Brain Research tells us that you'll forget 90% of what you hear after only 3 days, most of it being forgotten within the first hour after you hear it.
t They Don't Tell You About Your Own Attention Span:  
When we begin expanding a list beyond 3 items, our memory looks for the nearest cliff to jump off to end the pain and suffering.

I'll spare you the pain.

Get an education.

Wait, what?

Fact is, people with more education do earn more money during their lifetime, have a higher life expectancy, and have higher job satisfaction than their non-educated counterparts.

I just think it's a highly inefficient (and costly!) way to tell your future boss that you're trainable and perseverent, which is essentially what a degree really gets you.

In my opinion, if the education system was more like becoming a plumber, we'd all be a lot better off.


P.S.  I'm not allergic to copper. 

Don't judge me.