Missing balance
More proof that times have changed: the article in Macleans, listing the relative ranking of “party schools” in the universityverse (it’s a word, believe me). My alma mater has fallen so far off the radar that I had to read to the end of the list to find it.
Now, I know that from the point of view of the conservative, career directed, this is a positive thing. After all, university isn’t free. Your job is to get an education and then, quickly, get a job (to repay student debt). Blah, blah. From where I sit, four decades down the road, you’re missing balance.
I went to a small school, where professors really did know your name. I lived in residence, and ate hot line food. Did my own laundry, though. And yes, my hours were counted: how many more hours of class until the evening begins! What the current cohort thinks of as “sufficient party time” (140 minutes per week), we did on a busy day. Not at all the same regime.
Funny thing happened on the way to the podium: we managed to party, a lot, and get an education. A balanced education. All of my gang were able to find professions after leaving the womb. We’ve all managed to contribute to society, in meaningful ways.
To those misguided young people, who feel that they need so much time in party avoidance, I can only say that you had better prove it to the rest of the world. If it takes you that many hours of directed effort to get through the academics of an education, then I pity your future employer.
