Mood: Gleeful
We got an inch of snow last night! *dances* I've been taking pictures but I don't have 'em on the compy yet--I'll do that later today. But snow! And they're calling for more snow Tuesday and blizzard-like conditions on Wednesday--how cool is that??
Yes, I AM a snow freak. Deal with it. XD
Time for a minor rant...I was thinking about college yesterday, and--oh, let me start from the beginning. So I'm related to someone who is determined, after graduating from college, to go out and 'live on the land', as it were. He will have a degree in history and criminal justice, and he has a great mind for facts, debating, and things like that. The only problem is, he doesn't take the time to apply it. He's at a point in time where, from my point of view, he's just coasting along at the bare minimum to pull past when he could be pulling fabulous grades and figuring out the next plan of action after graduation. But, AT THE ADVICE OF HIS COUNSELERS, he's decided instead that he's going to 'find himself' and live off the land for a year.
But that isn't the point of this minor rant. My irritation at college in general is that instead of preparing kids for being out on their own, it seems to be just an extension of childhood. Unless you're living off-campus your bills are paid by someone else, you're fed by someone else, you don't take care of anything except your classes. And that just seems kind of wrong...it's a stripping away of responsibilities for another four years, and yet like public school if a person doesn't go they're viewed as a freak of nature.
Granted, there are some degrees that are essential to get in order to get a job of any kind, and there are people who do go to college to learn instead of 'because it's expected'. But as a general rule the 'college student' doesn't seem much different from the average kid, except that they have less rules.
*sigh* I know that this may come across as contemptuous and irritable, but there doesn't seem to be a holding up of standards for teaching anymore. The sheer amount of crap that a person has to slog through in order to LEARN anything is so daunting that the desire to learn is either suppressed so they don't have to go through that or is beaten out completely. I'm discovering that as I go to college classes myself--there is no real incentive to go above and beyond. When I take a test, all I have to do is take the study guide quiz enough times that I remember what the questions are and regurgitate the answers at test-time. Which is NOT the best way to remember things--I'll freely admit that I really despise taking classes this way and that I won't remember hardly any of these questions and answers within six months. (And for some reason I signed up for classes again...but I figured that I might as well finish up the year before I bail out for good) It's just...the decline of teaching and learning in a public atmosphere really annoys me. A lot.
Sometimes I wonder what I'm even going to school for...what I would really love is to be (and don't you DARE laugh) a stay-at-home mom. But that's not an available career choice at college, unfortunately. XD The things that I love to do--art, for example--are not covered in the subjects that I'm taking. My graphic design class covers how to get a job, not how to be creative. And that just seems kind of wrong...
...I'm going to shut up now, because this could go on for AGES. Did I mention that I'm learning guitar? The chords I know are G, C, A, D, Dm, D7, E, and Bm. The last one is in a song I'm learning ('I Need You' by the Beatles--gosh, I love the Beatles), hence the reason why I know it. XD My fingers still hurt from playing yesterday. And now, I'm going to toddle off and memorize the answers for my finals. *rolls eyes*