Dear Elina,
Your last post (and boy, what a post it was!) brought me
comfort at a time when I was questioning the very idea of your closing thesis--
"there is no true fulfillment from
standing water." Of course leave it to me to translate these
beautiful, culturally rich and intensely poetic ideas into a politically driven
(and, therefore hopelessly boring)
response. But I'mma do it.
(not-so) Recently something very dear to the both of us has
come under attack: our liberal
arts education. Last night I was watching Mike Rowe pretty clearly
undermine the value of a liberal arts-like degree (ummm excusez-moi
that is our terain). But it's not even the value of the degree (because, let's
be honest, errybody's been doing that lately-- insert link of any article ever
published about anything about higher education in the past three years), it's
the prestige of it that was under attack and got me riled up. Rowe's argument
is a good one- at a time when unemployment among college graduates is at an all
time high, there are thousands of jobs (and really well paying ones!) that are
left unfilled, not only because college grads aren't trained well, but because we don't want them. Being a mechanical
engineer on tractors (while they can
be promised a higher income that what my mom makes) isn't cool enough for
our Millennial taste. Our affinity to
a liberal arts education is the quintessential arrogance that makes up the
persona of the Millenialist.
So why, my dear Elina do we force ourselves to study
literature, economics, political science, just in order to compete for
relatively few jobs (which we may end up hating in the end), when we know that
we could have more stable jobs and the
promise of a prosperous life? We do
it because we belief in the very ideas of liberalism (note: not the political
kind).
Reading your post gave me some insight into liberalism: We
don't do things because it's necessary for stability in our lives, indeed, we
do it for the exact opposite reason-- because we understand the danger of
standing water. We value our education in more than just a way to get food on
the table with our future jobs, we value it in a sense that is unknown to us
right now. We value learning about Shakespeare and Adam Smith not only because
it's kinda fun, but because, there is somehow the promise of using these ideas
and the experiences given to us to deeply affect the world-- deeply affect it
in a way that doesn't translate directly to a job market at this very moment. Us changing the world may not happen. It
probably won't happen, but isn't it the idea of it, and the lack-of promise
that keeps us coming back for more?
And when we have high school reunions in the next few years,
and we our peers who copped out decided to take the more practical route
of education and career choices make more money than us, have higher standards
of living than us, maybe are more well known than us, we may feel defeated, but
at least at some point in time, we had the dream, the dream to break away from
the poison of the mundane. And I think that dream is enough for me right now.
I'm not sure that I've really expressed my ideas well
enough. But I think, if anyone, you would be the one to empathize with them.
------> promise they'll only get better from here.
-Diane
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