College has become a rite of passage in our society. The Common Core Learning Standards, supported by the U.S. Department of Education and adopted by 45 states, places a strong emphasis on college readiness. Middle school and high school teachers and career counselors feel obligated to convince young adults to attend postsecondary institutions by highlighting our crumbling economy. “No one gets a job these days without a college degree.” We have all been forced to watch power points of the statistics that showcase the benefits of the academy. Higher percentages of people with some sort of college degree get jobs. The more advanced your degree, the higher your salary. I would not be surprised by any recent graduate who felt slightly entitled to the jobs and salaries promised to them by these statistics. (However, the fact that these statistics show up when I am considering paying more money to further my education makes me wonder about how the numbers are interpreted.) College is becoming more and more necessary to an individual’s place in society.
Some blatantly suggest that the academy is the only option and that a postsecondary liberal arts education is the very best of that option. I honestly have been told that choosing Houghton College was the best thing I could do for myself and for the world. Can anyone truly come to know who they are and how they relate to the world without the reflective attitudes fostered at such an institution? Others wonder whether the academy is worth the time and money that so many people commit to it. Does academia really convince people to look and act outside of scholarly work and into real life and practice? Or do most scholars eventually turn back to the books to solve the problems in which they have little to no actual experience? Those who ask these questions consider the academy self-indulgent and irrelevant.
Some days, I appreciate my education here more than others and might be inclined to agree with the most committed scholars of the academy. Other days, I cannot remember why I have submitted myself to the possibly meaningless endeavors of postsecondary studies. Most days, I do not feel strongly in either direction. Why question it at all at this point in my education?
Personally, academia has helped me to discover the kind of person I want to be. It has been partly through my post-secondary studies that I have come to understand more fully what humanity, faith, and society are, and what they mean to me. This, I believe, affirms the merits of the academy. However, I would never suggest that someone like my sister, who discovers every day through dance what it means to be human and relate to others, join the same academy I enjoy. Or that my friend, who uses his natural mathematics abilities to create stage sets and build houses, should use his hands instead to write a scholarly article. Perhaps there are majors and programs at post-secondary institutions that simply give people the degree they need to follow the work at which they will truly excel, the action that brings them life. In such cases, colleges and universities become small stepping-stones rather than a way of scholarly life. To some people, maybe more even than will admit it to themselves, academia simply fails to give life meaning the way our culture claims it will.
It is not my intent to depreciate the benefits or significance of the academy. After all, I have continued my studies here at Houghton and have enjoyed much of it. It is simply to challenge the pedestal upon which the academy rests in our society. Are postsecondary studies intrinsically and universally good? I think not. The academy is not inherently good or evil; I have found few things in this world that are. The goodness, usefulness, and purpose of anything will most often depend upon the personality and style of the one that chooses to invest in it.