Tire Me

The NY Times article about College and it's prices in relation to what Friedman would think has raised some interesting issues for me. If Friedman read the article (which I'll presume he has, he does write for the NY Times as well), I'll say that he agrees with the issue of getting more from college than just an education. It exposes you to many different cultures (well at least most colleges do, but that's a completely different topic) and different technologies. Friedman travels all across the world and college students can experience somewhat of the same thing in your larger college campuses. And I think, I never would have heard of wikipedia or podcasts had I not been enrolled in college; or if I did stumble upon them I would have never used them to any sort of good to society, I'd use them for my own personal gains.

(Sweeping generalization warning!) Anyone who didn't attend college probably has some reason why they didn't and not having the financial means is not good enough (there is something called financial aid). Either they hated high school, have no ambition to do anything meaningful in life or are in a trade of some sort. If you are a plumber, electrician, carpenter or have some sort of skill in a trade and don't need to attend school, congratulations. You have found your niche and will probably make lots of money without spending any on a formalized education. But if you belong to one of the other two groups, you will miss out on a lot by skipping college. But try and get a job where you can make more than 20k out of the gate. Not only will you miss out on the culture of college and the fun of meeting hundreds of new people from different parts of the world and trying new things that you would never think possible.

But you will carry this stigma for the rest of your life: I never went to college.


This rings out clear to any employer who is looking for an employee with skills such as adaptability; you learn how to adapt to 18 credits and work and downtime in college and end up (somehow) successful. College is much more than an education; it teaches you what the world is going to be like in the future, how people will learn in the future. Look at this class! We have homework almost solely on the Internet! This class could be held on the Internet solely and it would have nearly the same effect towards my learning the material and the absorption of the message.