I am in college and I am struggling quite a bit. I’m having trouble finding the motivation to stay in such a horribly run educational system that mother culture has given us. I’ve hated the way school is run for many years now and after reading My Ishmael and Providence, I now know that there really is a problem with our schools. I’ve thought about dropping out but I’d feel like a failure. So if you could give me any advice on the subject it would be greatly appreciated.

I’m glad to help out if I can. Here’s the way I see it. You have your life to put together, and if schooling fits into what you want to do, it really doesn’t matter how horribly the schools are run. For example, if you want to be a lawyer or a social worker or a chemical engineer, you’re going to have to get the relevant degrees no matter how much you might despise the schools that award them. You should also keep in mind that Ishmael said that post-graduate work is obviously different. Doctors, lawyers, scientists, scholars, and so on actually have to use in real life what they learn in graduate school, so for this small percentage of the population schooling actually does something besides keep them off the job market.

A bachelors degree will give you a ticket of admittance to certain kinds of jobs, but if you don’t want those jobs, a bachelors degree will be almost worthless to you. If you’re receiving so little benefit from school that you can’t see the point of continuing, why would it be a failure on YOUR part if you drop out? It is the schools that are a failure, not you.

ID: 377
DATE:
UPDATE: 01 Apr 2002