Youth Slapping Me In the Face

So, I recently sought out a book I thought would be interesting: Privilege: Harvard and the Education of the Ruling Class. The title caught my attention as well as the author's writing in The Atlantic, a newly acquired fantastic magazine subscription. However, I became annoyed at the book when I found out the author is two years younger than me. How dare he achieve so much in such little time? To his benefit, his perspective in the book is accurate in regards to higher education and the class system.

His perspective made me think about my collegiate life, and well, I miss the idealism of what I was going to achieve. Disgruntled, I feel I paid for a very basic education like he did (and he went to Harvard). College is for people to establish their class in the world. You receive some education, but you mostly gain your connections and networks. Success revolves primarily on what college name is attached to your resume. The rest of your life is spent catching up on your education. I have met very smart people without a college (and at times high school) diploma, but I gain access to certain avenues based on the number of letters after my name.

I expected college to be more academic with political arguments, scientific exploration, higher levels of writing and thoughts…you know, scholarly. But I found the academics relatively easy with some spurts of difficulty. Like the author of this book, I felt that I didn’t have to work that hard because the professors did not push back to make me work harder (except for a choice 2-3 who I still admire today).

Now I am a teacher, and I understand both perspectives. I understand the burnout of the teacher, but I also feel I need to push my students to think and learn. They need help in finding information, and making connections to their lives. They fight me often, but I enjoy their brain development.

Probably the number ONE compliment of my profession is the amount of information I have been forced (and willingly) to learn. I enjoy how much I have read and wished I had this perspective earlier (I might have pursued different professional choices). I guess my education came 3 years and $23,000 later than my college graduation.