I expect to resume blogging this week, after my brief hiatus. I've been thinking through a few large topics I would like to get down on 'paper', but I'm still not sure how to say what I'm thinking. Probably because I'm not entirely sure what I'm thinking yet.
Just a quick note for now: Last week, I went with a couple of my children on a road trip to see three of the five Great Lakes. We live near Lake Ontario, so we've already seen that one, and Lake Superior is too far away and too minyan-less, so we made this a trip for Lake Huron, Lake Michigan and Lake Erie.
At some point while driving near the Indiana/Michigan border, we saw a billboard for Ferris State University. I'm sorry I didn't pull over for a picture, but I thought I could find one on-line, and now it seems I cannot. But the billboard offered this slogan: "You're ahead of the person behind you... Stay there."
That just seemed so absurdly wrong, in so many ways. To count off a few:
* Is that really a goal in life - to stay ahead of the guy behind us?
* Should this be the reason we learn, and attend an institution of higher learning?
* Is attending your university the best way for me to accomplish that goal?
* What do you do on campus to inculcate that goal into your students?
* How will you help me accomplish that goal?
I wonder if that billboard was the inspiration behind this April Fools prank by Ferris State students...
Monday, August 12, 2013
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It's a silly slogan, but given the weak state of the job market, a lot of people probably do need to think this way. And understandably, many people do attend college merely to improve their job prospects.
ReplyDeleteWhile perhaps not an ideal form of motivation, it sounds completely in line with the Mesillas Yesharim's suggestion for motivating the masses -- remind them that they want their place in the next world to be as exalted as their place in this world. Would they really feel comfortable knowing that someone the look down upon now, might have a higher place than them in the World to Come?
ReplyDelete> Is that really a goal in life - to stay ahead of the guy behind us?
ReplyDeleteWhen there's limited resources available or when there's zombies chasing after you then yes, that's really THE goal in life.
* Should this be the reason we learn, and attend an institution of higher learning?
Yes because the days when university was the playground for the landed rich are long gone. If I'm going to pay $15000 a year or so I want more for that money than just a great selection of Shakespeare quotes.
* Is attending your university the best way for me to accomplish that goal?
Nah, go to college and actually learn a useful trade.
* What do you do on campus to inculcate that goal into your students?
Beer.
* How will you help me accomplish that goal
We will sell you the beer.
tesyaa-
ReplyDeleteBut must it be about the next guy?
Anonymous-
Yes, and that always bothered me there as well.
Garnel-
You are such a Canadian.
In the job market, it is often a matter of being compared to the next guy. I hate to sound so darned practical, and so obsessed with material things like food and rent, but there it is.
DeleteWhen did Americans stop drinking beer? Or at least that bland yellow liquid they call beer?
ReplyDeleteGarnel-
DeleteI actually meant your college/university distinction - but your reply will do nicely as well...
Some pursuits are competitive. Outdoing another competitor is fine as long as you don't break the rules. However, in education, unless we're talking about competing for a limited number of job openings (that may be the thrust of the billboard's message), you have every reason to want the whole group to excel.
ReplyDelete