Majoring in Dharma Bummage

"We pushed the bike down past the various college hangouts and cafeterias and looked into Robbie's to see if we knew anybody. Alvah was in there, working his part-time job as busboy. Japhy and I were kind of outlandish-looking on the campus in our old clothes in fact Japhy was considered an eccentric around the campus, which is the usual thing for campuses and college people to think whenever a real man appears on the scene -- college being nothing but grooming schools for the middle-class non-identity which usually finds its perfect expression on the outskirts of the campus in rows of well-to-do houses with lawns and television sets in each living room with everybody looking at the same thing at the same time while the Japhies of the world go prowling in the wilderness to hear the voice crying in the dark mysterious secret of the origin of faceless wonderless crapulous civilization. 'All these people,' said Japhy, 'they all got white-tiled toilets and take big dirty craps like bears in the mountains, but it's all washed away to convenient supervised sewers and nobody thinks of crap any more or realizes their origin is shit and civet and scum of the sea. They spend all day washing their hands with creamy soaps they secretly wanta eat in the bathroom."  

--Jack Kerouac, The Dharma Bums



There has been a trend since the financial crisis of 2008, and possibly before, that speculates about what the purpose of higher education is and/or should be. Is it a definitive shift that flummoxes and frustrates many faculty, especially those in the liberal arts, positing that to stay competitive in a global marketplace universities should be moving away from such 'useless' majors like Philosophy, History, and English to focus on more 'practical' STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) that lead to well-paying and market-driven jobs. It is a pedagogical shift that targets the very idea of the purpose higher education itself--what is its purpose, what are the desired outcomes of a college graduate, and how can they best contribute to society? In other words, "just what are you learning anyway, son, and what are you going to 'do' with it when you graduate?"

Now a critique of the state of higher ed in this country and an analysis of this pedagogical divide is beyond the scope of this post. But I wonder about these questions--as a college graduate that did in fact forgo a STEM field in favor of a quote-unquote 'useless' course of study; as someone who works in higher education presently; and as a parent looking years down the road and deciding how to guide our children into both a God-given vocation and the opportunity for meaningful work suited to their abilities.

Some of our friends have chosen the Montessori route for their young children. I honestly don't know much about it, but from what I understand it is more exploratory, creative, less strict boundaries and more freedom to naturally gravitate to what they enjoy. We have chosen to send our kids to public school, aware of the temptation for educators in some federally-funded settings to 'teach to the test' since they are under pressure to score high. I do hope they develop both a critical thinking faculty, a love of learning, and the necessary analytical and writing skills to become well rounded students. We plan to be involved in their education.

I will admit as the kids get older I have a latent temptation to play it safe and hope, like many parents, that they gravitate to something that will lead to a good, meaningful, and decent-paying career. If David said, "Dad, I want to major in engineering," I would probably breathe a sigh of relief. If Monica said, "Dad, I think I want to be a writer," I would have to take a deep breath and be mindful of my response so as to not betray what was going through my mind (like, "HOW WILL YOU LIVE??") Its a bit of risky business in the mind of parents, because higher education is a big investment, and while you want your children to be happy, you also don't want to see them struggling to put food on the table, or delay having a family themselves for lack of gainful employment.

But the question remains, from grade-school to college: what is the purpose of education? Is it to instill a love of learning, a critical-thinking faculty, the ability to write well, reason, debate, read, deduce, formulate ideas? Or is it to train workers to slot them into needed positions, the way we regulate immigration to fill quotas for say, how many workers are needed to work in x,y,z field this season? I think it's appropriate for medical, law, and engineering programs to have a different teaching philosophy and objective than, say, a counseling or philosophy program. The problem I see, is when there is pressure--whether it's from well-meaning parents, governments, or self-appointed social pundits, to reduce universities to a job-training program.

My brothers and I all went to a large state research university. While they were majoring in STEM fields and securing internships and interviewing for their pick of jobs senior year, I was reading Hesse and traveling, writing and philosophizing, volunteering, and trying to find my way. I vowed that if were to ever go to grad school, it would be for something I was passionate about (which I did). They have good paying jobs and are skilled and suited for what they do. I also now have a job I enjoy that seems to square with my more generalized talents and strengths, but my compensation commensurates with my lack of specific, in-demand skills. I write this not to compare myself to their situation or be critical, but I wonder if I had the opportunity to go back in time and do it again, would I do anything differently. We tend to want for our children what we didn't have as adults looking back. It took me a long time to come to terms that I was ok, and that I wasn't a complete screw-up as a result of my choices--or lack of them.

I will say, I remember when I was on a training ride with the Central Bucks Bike Club when I was 17 or so. I was chatting with a doctor who said she went straight from high school to college to med school to residency to work. I was lamenting about how I had no direction, had so many interests and didn't know what I wanted to do besides riding boxcars and biking. "You know, there is a part of me that regrets not taking more time to live more, I was on the fast track to becoming a doctor and now that I'm in it I can't really go back. I wish I would have taken more time to do what I really wanted." So I guess regret can go both ways.  

I loved grad school. I was working full-time in the city at a social service/public health agency and went to school at night. It was my intellectual outlet where I got to read, write, and collaboratively discuss theological concepts with my peers and professors. It made me think critically about social, bioethical, and moral issues in an interdisciplinary way, get acquainted with metaphysics, delve into history, consider different points of view and traditions. I don't regret it, though whether it was 'worth it' from an economic standpoint I can't say.

I think the gist of what I'm getting at, for my own sake as well as the sake of my kids, is that we are called to what we are called to--some people are analytical in mind, some people are theoretical. Some are big picture, some love detail. Some are people-people, some want to be in a room with data all day. Hopefully, we fall into what we are most naturally suited for, good at, and maybe even love. I'd hate to live in a world of nothing but engineers obsessed with maximal optimization of time and resources but who never concern themselves with the simple question 'what is truth?' as much as I would hate to live in a world of nothing but life-coach yoga instructor health gurus. Thanks be to God, we are a human body made up of many parts with many talents, suited for different and essential purposes. If they are committed to true education universities can be a place where one both starts to explore what their natural aptitudes are and how it can translate into a career, as well as develop simply a love of learning--that is, learning for its own sake.