Learning How to Learn :: essays research papers

Colleges and Universities: Learning How to Learn   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Every year, millions of dollars are spent on toward education. That’s a major expense in anyone’s life. But what are we really paying for? With a hundred thousand dollars and four years, a degree can be acquired in just about any field. Imagine the greatest doctor in the world. Imagine her saving lives everyday. Now picture that same doctor not knowing how to change a diaper, pump gas, or even balance her own check book. Naturally, society would be more apt to avoid that physician. How could this be? That’s the question parents’ and professors alike are asking everyday. If colleges and universities are preparing students for the world of work, who is going to prepare them for the world?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Remember that first day of school, standing before numerous doors of vast opportunities and excitement? The possibilities seemed endless. Though as the years pass, it seems that one by one those doors begin slamming in our faces. Contrella 2 A small boy fails a fourth grade math test. He begins to get discouraged and becomes completely turned off by anything math related for the rest of his academic experience. He begins to wake up every morning for school because it is part of the routine, not because of the excitement of learning. By tenth grade, he is completely fed up with the idea of school in general. He does what is needed to get by, while getting tossed among a variety of teachers who mundanely write him off. When he is ready to enter college, he chooses classes that well trained apes could pass. (We often have to wonder how things such as ‘ultimate Frisbee’, make an enrollment list.) His main objective: Get out. With that college degree, he can find a descent job that pays enough to pay the bills and put food on the table. The cycle finally ends. It’s sad to think that this could ever happen, but reality shows us that it can happen any day of the week. Benjamin R. Barber put it best when he s tated â€Å"Americans do not really care about education - The country has grown comfortable with the game of ‘let’s pretend we care’† (75). It is almost as though society has been programmed. Birth, schooling, work, death. That describes a basic life pattern. Is that enough? What happened to self-fulfillment and genuine interest in learning?