I want to thank Bob Lowery and his commentors over at Satisfying Retirement for giving me so many ideas for blog posts here at RJsCorner. The viewer discussion is beyond imagination for my little blog here at RJsCorner. This post is one of those topics.
Most people seem to look at a college education as to how it applies to a future job. As usual, I look at it from a different perspective. To me, college was just being part of “growing up”. It shaped my view of the world beyond what I could even have imagined. When I went off to college in 1965 it was the first time I was away from home and on my own. College opened up the world to me as I had grown up in a small racist rural community and had no idea that the world was so diverse.
I have to admit that there wasn’t much I learned in college that directly applied to the job I took after it was completed. But, that was ok as, at least for me, college gave me a worldview that I would not have imagined before those days. It primarily taught me how to think and study. College made me grow up.
Yes, the cost of college is ridiculous now. It should be free as it is in many European countries and treated as just the next step beyond “high” school which I think if very much misnamed. I am glad to see that Joe Biden is proposing just that. He wants all state funded colleges to be tuition-free for anyone who wants to attend.
I haven’t kept track that much of the folks in my high school graduation class of 1965 but I still see the glaring “stuck-in-place” mentality of many in my old class. Many who didn’t advance their education beyond those high school years are now lazy-minded MAGA folks who only parrot what they have been told. They rant about so many problems but just don’t care to try and do anything about them.
Closing this post out, as a result of my college experiences I have come to believe that everyone is entitled and should be constantly encouraged to reach their maximum potential regardless of race, economic condition, or anything else. Stopping education at high school is one of the primary reasons that MAGA exists today. Too many uneducated voters out there. Jefferson said “a democracy depends on an informed electorate” and college plays a big part of that.
RJ's Corner 
My view of the usefulness of my college education shares some similarities with yours. I grew up in a liberal city in the Northeast, but a suburb that was 99% white. I only experienced living with black, asian, and native Americans after arriving at university.
My worldview and awareness of issues that were shaping the country happened after I left home. College gave me the opportunity to see what the community of humans really looked like, not the pure white suburban picture I grew up with.
College didn’t prepare me for my career, it pushed me into the adult world of differences and compromise.
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Yeah, we definitely have the same views of our college years, just from different perspectives. After a couple of years in college I finally thought I was growing up. 🙄
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My family disintegrated while I was in HS, so I did the only thing I thought I could (with my limited life experience), I escaped and got married. I left the promise of a three year bachelor program at my state university–in fact, left HS needing only half a credit to graduate. However, I promised myself I would read a book a day and that I did until my early 40s. I did attend colleges off and on as I led a nomadic life, but found them to be, mostly, a great disappointment. I still read three to four books a week and use the internet to explore the world. College today? The same as then. It can be an introduction to a wider, more diverse world. Or, it can be another way of finding others of the same mindset and reinforcing that mindset. But, education is something that should continue throughout life.
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Thanks for the words Marquita. Yeah, it sounds like you have had your share of character building adversity and experiences. You are right the college experience can lead to finding other that make your narrow worldview the same. Hopefully, diversity works out for most of us. Each of us must find our own paths through life, usually by trial and error. I like Elon Musk’s thoughts that we learn more from our failures than we do our successes.
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RJ Walters, I have heard arguments being made for college being tuition-free. What are your thoughts?
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Thanks for the question, ragnarsbhut. I don’t believe the monetary cost is of much importance. Being free doesn’t do anymore to the education you get than it did for your high school years. I struggled to pay for college more than fifty years ago and I know that doing it yourself without serious debt is impossible today. Simply stated a high school education just doesn’t prepare you for a job or life, everyone should be able to go to college.
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RJ Walters, I would rather hear arguments in favor of free college from economists than people who claim not to have the money for it.
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To each his own…
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RJ Walters, what value does something have if it is free?
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I guess your logic is based on “you get what you pay for”, but there is much of the world where that doesn’t apply.
— Voting is a free choice but certainly is critical to our country
— Without free education ignorance dominates. That certainly has value
— Freedom of religion
— Good deeds don’t cost anything but are life-saving
Not everything is to be based on its monetary value.
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Good points.
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