Reflection Of Leon Botstein's The Curriculum And College Life

Throughout the essay, Charles Murray stresses the idea that college is the wonderland of finding oneself and to find the career that one would want to follow for the rest of their lives. “College is seen as the open sesame to a good job and a desirable way for adolescents to transition to adulthood. Neither reason is as persuasive as it first appears.” Murray, C (2008) Practically spoken, this is not normally the case. College is a fair amount of work, much more work than one would normally acquire through any course of a high school or secondary school setting. In no way saying that the average student cannot meet the requirement and achieve success over the amounted work, it would also be ridiculous to expect every graduate to pursue going into higher education with the expansion of work that will be given.

More people than ever before are attending college due to the endless opportunities that it provides. Louis Menand, a college professor and the author of “Live and Learn: Why We Have College,” explains the meaning of college through three theories that have been developed. Theory 1 supports the idea of the sorting-out process that separates the highly intelligent from the less intelligent. Menand’s second theory explains that college provides opportunities for developmental growth, personal growth, and teaches individuals about the world around us. These are valuable lessons that will not be learned anywhere else. Theory three supports the idea of people attending college to specialize in a specific vocation. I

College is an opportunity to truly discover who you are. Often enough, you hear people saying “You should really major in this field, I think you would really enjoy this career.” or, “Do you think you really want to study that? Have you thought about what you will be doing ten years from now?” filling your mind with self doubt, uncertainty, and the anxiousness of not knowing what you want to do with the rest of your life. Mark Edmundson wrote an article titled, Who Are You and What Are You Doing Here?, published in Oxford American addressing college students and their families how the most important thing college students should focus on is personal growth. When students take their courses seriously their engagement can help finding out who they really are and which future career will lead not necessarily to great financial success, but to a career and life that is very satisfying. Edmundson wants to inspire his audience and have them take what he is saying seriously. Edmundson uses satirical informal language and hypothetical situations to effectively persuade college students to focus on their personal growth in order to create a life and career that is deeply fulfilling.

“The college student has the task of creating meaning out of her or his learning, or alternatively, of creating a curriculum, or an education out of the raw materials of the various courses that she or he takes. This task is accomplished by building an edifice in which the various components are related to each other in the various ways described. Each student will have a unique curricular structure; even two students who take the same set of courses may have different educations because they may relate the component courses in different ways.”

The students are encouraged to pick a career that will give them the greatest financial and personal rewards. It does not matter the courses that are taken, so long as that the courses taken are necessary for the chosen career. Differing from theory 1, the grades are not viewed as the most important factor in a college education; they are merely used as positive and negative reinforcement. As a result, the students only learn what they need to succeed and have no incentive to learn anything else, as it will not benefit them. To the believers of theory 2, and one of the things that make this theory unique, is the belief that education is simply about growth, not about who attends the best college or has the best

Jaschik explains in his article, “Academically Adrift” written in 2011, the decline of learning in college and the minimal amount of expectations placed on students. The article suggests that a survey was taken amongst college students that tested their accuracy on levels of analysis and critical thinking; the results were poor. The goal of college is to improve your academic skills on a higher level. The article hints that most students take courses that fulfill the academic requirements, but are not grasping the scholarly information being presented. Jaschik uses the art of persuasion, scholarly data, and assertive emotion to persuade his audience that college fails to fulfill its primary purpose as the title suggests.

In this persuasive essay, I believe that the majority of students that attend colleges and universities are obligated to take courses outside their major to understand the foundation of the college experience. I chose to defend the practice of having students take courses outside their major because it gives them an opportunity to see what classes they are interested in besides their primary, gives them a chance to expand their knowledge in certain areas of education, and most importantly finding themselves during this four-year expedition of education.

As a result of the culture of standardization in grade schools, students are left vulnerable and eventually led into majors in Ivy League campuses they may not desire. “As what counts as learning is increasingly standardized and limited”(Davidson 61), students are not given the opportunity to learn what is relevant to their interests. This quote reveals the cause of the vulnerability of students in Ivy League campuses. Due to the lack of exploration of their interests in grade schools, students go to college with little to no knowledge of what they aspire to do, hence leaving them vulnerable to the exploitation of the “culture of success” on

Ever since the mid-20th century, Liberal education has been the main course of education to much undergraduate institute in the United States include the University of South Dakota. When the 21st century come, with broad goals of to helps students develop a sense of social responsibility, as well as strong and transferable intellectual and practical skills to apply knowledge and skills in real-world settings, liberal education embraces the practice of both academic and out-of-class activities. However, I believe the community and extracurricular involvement in the university are becoming more important for the student today.

A lot of college students are a part of the developmental human phase known as emerging adulthood. In this phase, which commonly happens from age 18-25, humans are not complete adults in the sense that they do not have children or aren’t married, and do not live alone. Emerging adults generally struggle with their individuality or psychological sense of personal identity. Extracurricular activities can be defined as activities that take place for anyone of any age outside their workspace, done recreationally. For a lot of students, extracurricular activities are seen as an escape from the daily stresses of academics and everyday life. It’s something that allows for their interests and talents take over to help keep their minds and bodies engaged. Knowledge of the effect of extracurriculars on emerging adults is important because it can potentially help them find their identity as well as provide a platform for them to escape stress and possibly improve performance in academics in addition to improving social, mental, physical, and emotional skills. Through this, it can be said that extracurricular activities have a positive impact on the development of emerging adults through the four domains of human development and can improve performance overall. This paper will cover various studies in which extracurriculars as well as the four domains of human development are examined in depth to stress the fact that extracurriculars are important to the development of emerging adults

Since the early 90 's society has changed its view of the collegiate body, Junior College and Universities aren 't limited to only students fresh out of high school, age now varies more than ever. Just in our class, our fellow students ages range from 17 to 41 years old, each of whom have their own drives, goals, and ambitions. Dentin Diggins also known as Cole, is a 17 year old high school senior, currently competing for his 2nd Environmental Services and Natural Resources Division I title. Chad Hemphill, a 41 year old father of three, runs his own business. Knowing his mistake of passing up an opportunity to further his education, he 's taking that 2nd chance after twenty years. We also have Vanessa Garcia, a 33 year old single mother of three, who decided to take the

Collegiate education is an integral part of the formation of future successful adults. Traditionally, the style of education that is received by college students is lecture-based. A professor stands in front of a large classroom presented various facts with little to no participation by students. In recent years, however, there has been a shift in some universities towards a more involved, participatory style of teaching that incorporates a discussion-based classroom setting. These classrooms have been noted to lead to a much more diverse and individually successful learner. Students in this type of classroom gain the necessary skills to think for themselves and become creative and intelligent members of the workforce. While some may argue that collegiate lecture-based learning is necessary for a broader understanding of ideas, incorporating more participation into the classroom from students creates a student that will be more independently creative, contributing more to society. The reluctancy of major American universities to move more towards this style of education is indicative of the financial priorities of American colleges outweighing educational goals.

The topic of this article related to the in-class discussion about college experiences and how college students should not only come to class and get good grades, but should also be involved in extracurricular activities. Being involved in various organizations, clubs, internships, and volunteer experiences all outweigh a high grade point average (GPA) and are what employers look for in a resume.

In today’s society, the idea of college is portrayed by the media as a wild party scene where young adults struggle to receive an education due to their long nights spent partying. Most high school seniors were looking forward to the day they could move out of the house and

My college education began not at the institution about which I am writing, but rather another university 12 miles away. For two years, I attended Maryville University in St. Louis with a triple major in English, psychology, and sociology. Maryville University’s campus was small with just three small academic buildings on campus. As I progressed from my freshman to my sophomore year, I realized I had outgrown the small campus that had once felt comfortable. With only one key faculty member in each of my major departments, the classes had become predictable. When the spring of my sophomore year arrived, I decided to transfer to Webster University where I could learn from a larger faculty with varied points of view.