I just turned 24 a few weeks ago and I can safely say that these last 3-4 years have been my greatest years of mental and physical growth since I was kid. Given, I have far more growth ahead of me, but I am impressed and curious as to why things have, as of late, "clicked" on how to lead my own life, how to handle myself, and where I see myself going. Don't get me wrong, I still have uncertainties and my maturity has holes that still need fixing, but in comparison to who I was when I was 20, I am impressed with whatever has happened to get me here. I wasn't an idiot when I was 20; I would still be happy to know my 20 year old self, but I prefer my current self.
Anyway, when I was 20, I firmly believed that psychology or philosophy were the routes destined for me. I loved both subjects dearly and I am clearly still fascinated with each, but I found that packaging those subjects into something structured that I would learn and use on a buyer just didn't sit quite right for me. In a way, I imagine my love for both as a love unrestricted by formal education. I enjoy them, I surround myself with them, but I do not want to leash them into structure and use them for financial benefit. Instead, around the age 23 I turned my focus to physiology, biomechanics, and nutrition; now, these subjects I loved, as well, but I could see myself structuring, packaging, and building a career around these interests far more than my "free bird" mentality with psychology and philosophy. It took me 5 years from my entrance in university education for me to realize this, and that is of interest to me.
I think it's interesting and a little crazy to imagine a student coming into the university system at 18 years old and expecting them to immediately "know" where they will find their position of most effectiveness in society. Given, there are ideas the university implements, like testing out elective courses one's first two years to find what might spark interest, but even that attempt is a rather weak one to legitimize a system of education that seems subpar in educating the right youth (yes, I'm discarding the minority population of older students) students with their individualized, proper interests, because, by some degree, it isn't the university's fault. 18 years old is too young for most, and I don't mean that in an age context, but rather, a lack of maturity.
Does a lack of maturity mean its' the student's fault, though? I'd argue no. Their atmosphere is completely different, they are bombarded with new found pressure, they have far more responsibility, they are "googly eyed" about everything they encounter, their mind is overstimulated, and finally, (sorry, neuroscience, I'm using you against yourself) our brain does not fully develop until the age 25-26. Do we really expect students to soak in all this information, make responsible decisions, and come out with the exact degree they should have gone into, unscathed? I find the success rate of those three compounded conditions to be very low. I think many people have come to the same conclusion, and yet, nothing is being done; I'm not going to even begin speculating as to why not, because I'm sure it's a bunch of bureaucratic bull. However, it took me 5 years to find the degree I really wanted to do, and while I'm sure some have matured quicker than I have and have found the exact degree and career path they'd like to within the first 2 years of their collegiate time table, the vast majority don't find themselves in their proper degree until later - sometimes never.
So, the massive increase in social pressure from high school to university is laughable, especially when these students are suddenly ripped away from the support system they had for the previous 18 years of life; and then, imagine having parents unable to understand the complexities of a late teenager's mind while bombarded by sudden social, financial, and personal pressures: my oh my, I have sympathy. I was blessed enough to have two incredibly supportive parents that based their support of me on my individual growth, largely non-compared to what my peers were doing. Of course, I had to make strides for the betterment and individualization of my person, but if that criteria was met, I had support - many do not, or their parents compare them to their peers and the screwed up American view that certain successes should be met within particular time margins. That "results now" attitude has many drawbacks in the psycho-emotional state of mind of young students. Some can handle it, but simply because they handle it does not make them better people for it. Believe it or not, even at the ripe old age of 18, 19, 20+ you're still yearning for parental approval and learning from your parent's way of handling situations. Do I absolve an 18, 19, 20+ year old of everything? No. Obviously there needs to be effort on their part, but the standard that 18 years old is the age where heaping responsibilities are placed - no thanks, keep your cigarettes, draft card, and legal sentencing, I'll stay 17.
Essentially, what I'm trying to say is: the standardization of young adults is preposterous, outdated, and plain ignorant. It's funny that we try and recognize how specific and different every human on this planet is, yet we generalize our social expectations on everyone alike. Granted, it's easier this way, but some small tweaks to the system could make everything much more efficient in educating young adults in the subjects they'd really appreciate. Plato had some interesting thoughts on the education system, some of which I share here.
Anyway, I'm back in school, clear, quite engaged in my degree and happy about it; I have met others that seem extremely excited about what they will be doing in the future, and I am glad to hear it - that's what we, as a society, need. What society, as a whole, needs, though, is to become more flexible, understanding, and diverse to become far more efficient and enthusiastic.
That's a short piece on one of my issues with the higher education system, but like I said, students shouldn't be relieved of all responsibility for their failures or mistakes. I have seen many instances of people reducing themselves to nothing, because of the inability to compose themselves, identify themselves, in desirable social situations (going out, partying, etc), which has it's positives and severe negatives.
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