In all the recent hubbub of rising college tuition and rumors of government loan forgiveness, I took a moment to think about why students choose the colleges they do. Parents may have their own agenda, wishing Junior to attend their alma mater, or finances may dictate a community college to avoid a mountain of student loan debt. Students themselves fall into two main camps: the one-straight-and-narrow-school of choice and the I-have-no-idea-how-do-I-choose? camp. Some students choose their school based on the colors!
And I do understand that college is a big deal. If college is where people find themselves and make decisions that will shape their future, shouldn't where you go to college be of paramount importance? After all, do not most people find their mates on college campuses?
Unfortunately, I know many students and parents who choose schools for prestige, placement, and convenience instead of really evaluating the college's professors.
I believe that the place of education is not nearly as important as the people of a school. I did not attend a top-ranked school by national standards, nor did my alma mater win awards for breakthrough studies or literary publications. You see, I am not a good teacher because I use the greatest methods, have the perfect philosophy of education, or implement the trendiest technology.
I teach well because I had good teachers.
The best methods do not inspire young people to go deeper into the course material. The most advanced technology will not encourage students to ask hard questions and ferret out their answers. Strong philosophy often produces the most boring and misunderstood teachers on college campuses!
Good college professors enabled me to find solutions to classroom issues and other sticky situations by being themselves and teaching by example. I watched them handle late work with consequences sometimes and grace other times, which taught me to always hear the student out, even if it seems like a waste of time. I listened to my teachers illuminate a literary text with a silly example or a tear-inducing personal story; consequently, I learned the value of making lessons relevant and interesting. I also learned to allow tardy students to enter my classroom with dignity when I saw my kindly college professor pretend not to notice the tear-streaked girl who entered his lecture after it was nearly over.
The truth is, a place does not guide, mold, and make a person better. Environment affects human development, to be sure, but one's college campus will never have the power of influence that teachers hold over their pupils. Good college professors challenge and inspire their students to change the world in their respective fields, while poor college professors practice hypocrisy, ramble on about nothing, test what they do not teach, and generally produce frustrated and often incompetent graduates. When overpaid and under-qualified professors "teach," the job market must require advanced degrees to gain proficient employees.
With the number of college graduates who cannot find work in their degree's field, the backward nature the American system of education emerges. Young people cram their high school transcripts with impressive GPAs, stellar extra-curricular involvement, and Honors/AP classes so they can incur incredible debt to go to the "best" school, and are frustrated beyond belief when they graduate and cannot get their dream job. Even more prevalent are the students who drop out of a college (or change to an "easier" major) because they could not understand its professors or their demands; these disillusioned folks slug their way from job to job trying to find out what it is they are supposed to do with their lives now.
My suggestion is this: when looking at colleges, inspect the teachers. Do they have degrees in their fields? Are they passionate about their subjects? Do freshman teachers care as much about their subject matter as professors who teach junior and senior classes? How do they behave toward the students? Are they respectful or disdainful? Do they burden students with too much work that has little course value, or do they challenge students with assignments that will make them think and grow in their field? The answers to these questions will help you decide if the teachers will help you or hinder you on your journey through higher education.
I had some life-changing professors, and a few I'd like to forget, but I believe my success in teaching high school so far is attributed to the strength of my teachers.
It doesn't really matter where you go to college so much as who teaches you at college.
May you be taught well.
Rebekah Hawk
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