correct me if i’m wrong

David Warren of the Ottawa Citizen makes an insightful contribution to the criticisms of university education in his latest article. In The soul-destroying effect of an elite education, he states:

Moreover, the late J.M. Cameron, among the greatest teachers ever to grace a college in Canada (St. Michael’s at Toronto), once gave me reason to hope. I asked him what, after half a century of teaching, he could find in common among his best students over all that time — the handful who stood out permanently in his memory. I expected him to struggle with this question, but he answered straightaway:

“They were all self-taught.”

Later: “They all arrived in university ready to make the best use of its resources, they were all burning with zeal to learn. They looked for professors who could help and guide them, they ignored professors who could not. Most came from humble backgrounds, and also stood out for their gratitude.”

It seems, thus, that Warren would argue that a university is simply a platform for students to thrive at what the enjoy doing. This contradicts why students actually attend college in the 21st century: to figure out what they want to do. By the time student these days have switched majors five times, they’re rushed to graduation and dumped into the job world.

This is exactly the reason I am taking time off before graduate school. I consciously decided to major in computer science in eighth grade (13 years old, approximately), but it has taken until now to learn about the nuances of different fields and to fully find my niche. I considered other fields: astronomy, music, economics. These were mere flings. Ultimately, there was simply no questioning my true love: computers.

Few of my peers shared such an affirmed sentiment. I would imagine an overwhelming world of uncertainty without guided passion. However, in spite of all this, I still don’t feel I “best” used the university’s resources. I certainly utilized them to a great extent: I was the leader of the ACM local chapter, I did independent research, I participated in many organizations, took advantage of the social scene, contributed service to the community, and even attended a few political rallies.

My undergraduate career was scattershot and all over the place, and so I don’t consider it the “best” way to university resources. My graduate education will be much more targeted to a small set of specific skills. Yet, to find what these skills should be took a whole undergraduate education of exploration.

Is this the “best” way to educate oneself? Some might argue so. Is this the need that undergraduate programs should aspire to fulfill? I don’t know.

Université du Québec professor Daniel Lemire doesn’t think so. Read his comments on a previous post of mine where I discussed the importance of school rankings.

My stance is that while rankings are important, they aren’t everything. One can move within a certain range of rankings and maintain a similar quality. I also believe that the competitiveness of the student body is important to teach you and to build a strong network.

Daniel believes that an undergraduate network is outgrown shortly and that a brand-name school is ultimately useful for nothing more than the first job. The name or reputation of an undergraduate program is inevitably overcome. Read the details here.

I recently discovered Daniel’s blog, and it’s fantastic. I highly recommend it for reading about academia, research and programming. He’s a professor that actually took the time out of his day to read my blog and comment–what a cool guy. Connecting teachers and students through blogs; now that’s education in action.