This morning's walk

Our institutions work very hard to empower us, and at times their expectations disable us.  I took a 100 level course this spring, biology 124.  It is typically filled with second semester freshmen.  I, being 36, was nervous, self conscious, and curious.  I was nervous that I would fail. I was self conscious that I was too old and would stick out.  I was curious about how the body works.  I put effort and resources into this course.  I am grateful to my peers, my professor, and my loved ones for supporting me through the experience.

  I thought about how stressed each student was before each test.  I thought about the fear of losing site of a dream because of poor scores in college.  I asked why do we pay so much money to fail.  It seems like a large enough portion of students are paying to try and learn.  It is as if our higher education is a casino.  You pay for an opportunity to win.  I am a father of two healthy and intelligent young ladies.  I am as patient as I can possibly be with their learning.  In turn I have learned to be patient with myself.  Should education lead to qualification?  If we are paying to learn concepts in a course, why don't we demand that we get what we pay for?  If we fail is it like buying a new car and driving recklessly?  Is learning a commodity to be capitalized on?  Is learning a privilege to be rationed to the willing?  Are poorer communities getting what they deserve?  Should we withhold from the willing and able to supplement the immature and naughty?  As long as education and learning are seen as qualifications and capital, then yes it is wasteful and foolish to spend currency on a delinquent customer.  Our uneducated youth will find new ways, new careers, that will likely be detrimental to the greater community.

It seems foolish to create obstacles that discourage or scare a learning student.  It reminds me of the horse and plow.  The horse plows because it is afraid of the whip.  Do the majority of students fear the whip of failure.  I didn't start learning until I failed in love.  It took an "F" in life's most fundamental lesson to help me see that learning is not to be feared but valued like a family heirloom.  There isn't a drop out rate, its drop over rate.  A learner may drop out of school, but they won't drop out of learning.  We never stop learning, we only stop participating in systems we continually are punished in.  This might be healthy if we think of learning as having a fit.  I think if we concentrated on where school drop outs land we'd have better information on how keep them healthy and contributing in productive ways.