This was something I was talking to my mom about just this morning. My main point talking to her was brought up in comment #2.
May 5, 2010From my own experience, formal education was a bit of a joke. There were no challenges. I was never asked to think about anything in school. It was merely a practice of memorizing what the teachers lectured long enough to mark the correct bubble on the test. And every guidance councellor would tell us things like, “What do you want to do with your life?” No matter what answer you would give them, they would generally provide step-by-step instructions on how to get there.
Things like:
“I want to be a computer programmer.”
Response:
1. Apply to 3 schools (pick from this list)
2. Go to school for that degree.
3. Graduate
4. Finish line “You’re now a computer programmer.”
At no point in that process was I made to suffer through my decisions. I was never asked to figure out how to get from point A. to point B. I never had to adapt to a changing environment. It was always: “Follow these instructions and you will succeed.” rather than “Figure it out. If you want it so badly, you might get there
