Last week in one of my classes we were asked as a part of our introduction to one another to go around stating our majors/minors, expected graduation date and what we plan to or would like to do after graduation. Nearly two-thirds of the class, including myself, is just as confused now as they were the day they stepped foot on this campus. Does college really prepare us for the future? Or is it just a four-year padding?For four, five, six years etc. we get up, go to class and think of nothing more than passing the tests, writing the papers and getting through the semester. Don’t forget about picking a major and/or minor to learn more about. However, when it all begins to come to an end, are we really leaving prepared for the “real world?”
I ask this not to say that the faculty of this university are not doing their jobs. Nor am I saying that the students of this university are not using the sources that are provided to them to the best of their abilities. I ask this more in a sense of knowing nothing but school for the past seventeen years of our lives. Knowing nothing but taking notes, studying for testes, writing papers and getting graded on our comprehension.
As graduation draws nearer, the question “What are you going to do?” becomes louder and louder, with the answer seemingly getting quieter and quieter. Maybe, to be forced out of the classroom and into the world is what is needed for the answer to become clear.
As with those in my class, the confusion seems to be an epidemic of sorts among those nearing the finish line. Maybe this fear, this confusion, is what is needed to find the clarity, to force us to make up our minds. Whether this is true or not, your days are numbered at West Chester. With every lecture, with every exam, with every paper, that finish line continues to draw closer, and despite the confusion that may come along with it, your cap will be in the air before you know it.
R. Brandyn Miller is a fourth-year student majoring in Literature. He can be contacted at RM590770@wcupa.edu.