Answers come as we grow

In class we have been discussing the blogging heads video that was made by two professors,William Deresiewicz a former teacher at Yale university and Mark Edmundson. These two professors discuss various subjects but the one that caught my interest was the one about there still being room for the big questions in college. These gentle men's arguments are over generalized and one sided. One can argue against or for them, I choose to disagree with them and with my classmates who do agree with what they are saying.

When discussing on the topic of education and how some institutions do not properly educate their students, or prepare them for the real world. Shelby Porter comments on this and makes a point in the third paragraph about how '' College is the place to discover who you are, to accept and reject certain beliefs, and know why.'' I disagree with this because a person does not need to be in college to discover themselves. It is not something that you discover over the course of 4 years, you discover yourself everyday that you are living because more often than not these things will change depending on when and where you are. The environment people live in has a greater influence than anyone thinks it does, on people's decisions, beliefs and behavior. Take an example of a child that comes from a conservative,rich and high class family, this child's idea about going to college is not about finding the answers it is about doing what they are supposed to be doing (at least this is they make most people think). Some of them already have the “big questions” answered for them. The point here is that not all students go to college seeking the same things. College only gives you an idea of the real world, away from the comfort zone but it is not the place where you will make all the conclusion's , it is where you begin asking yourself these questions.

I believe that teachers are there to guide you and help you with your education. Many people tend to confuse the teachers responsibilities, they are there to help you get a better understanding of complicated concepts. They are not there to give you the answers to questions they sometimes have no answer to. What people don’t understand is that a teacher learned from someone too but they are still searching for the same answers everyone else is. This is why I agree with Stephen Sales when he says that ‘’If people talk and write about these questions it will cause discussion and force people to think about these questions’’. This is true in most cases but in some people learn by experiencing and finding out what is good for them. People expect too much from the universities. A university is like any other business, like a hotel they will treat you well because you are their guest but what happens to you after you leave is for you to find out. But they always treat the richer guests better because they know they will come back and stay in the more expensive rooms and the hotel will have had good business.

In Armani Cooper’s essay he mentions from the beginning that you must enter to learn and learn to serve. But what is this supposed to mean? This brings to mind the question about why people go to college. Are they there to learn or are they there to serve? It is different for every one that is why they classify people into leaders and thinkers. I believe that the description of leaders is completely invalid, a leader in college is someone who is there to serve and learn and a thinker is a person that is there to learn. When a thinker is learning they question that is their way of learning. However there is not set distinction between the two because most people are a mixture of the two.

Most people think of ‘’thinkers’’ as ruthless, very outspoken people who cannot be controlled. This assumption is what gives false ideas to people like the two professors in the blogging heads video; they have made their arguments based on stereotypes that most people use. We also have to keep in mind that these institutions that people are so often trying to fight fault in are being run with both thinkers and leaders, there is not extreme of one or the other. Thinkers in these institutions are not a weakness they are bright and intelligent addition, because they both complement each other.

Where there is a will there is a way; if people search for the answers they will find them but if they only search in one place it is likely they might not find the answers. As I read some of what my colleagues have written some mention the fact about the size of the institutions. I think that has nothing to do with finding the answer to the big question or determining certain things about you. It might be harder to find a teacher or some to guide you through finding your way but the point is the teacher/professor does not have the answers for you so his being there or not, will not destroy any thing. It is like when a baby is learning how to walk no one tells him/her ‘’walk like this’’ the hold their hand and the baby finds his or her way. At first it is difficult but it gets easier as you move along, you learn step by step.