Despite stigma, college is not for everybody
by Diego Medrano
Op-Ed | 11/17/09
Posted online at 10:53 PM EST on 11/16/09
This past year I attended a high school graduation during which the school celebrated sending off the members of yet another class of students to their respective futures. For many of the students, this involved a summer vacation followed by four years at a college or university; for others, military careers, trade school or simply ... life.
At this graduation, the speakers made note of some of the impressive universities that the students had been accepted to and led the crowd in a standing ovation for those who chose a military future.
But despite wishing "good luck" to every student regardless of his or her future endeavors, the speakers never made mention of those who decided to go straight into the workforce.
The omission of such a large population of students is representative of the stigma that our society has with a student's decision to pursue higher education-a stigma that is especially strong at Brandeis University, where overachievement is commonplace.
I have heard friends talking about people from their hometowns who did not attend a university after high school. For such a seemingly liberal and enlightened bunch of students, few members of the national university community seem to consider not attending school as a legitimate option.
Here at Brandeis, every student tends to participate in as many clubs as he or she can possibly handle, take the highest-level classes, engage in unspoken competition with one another and have hopes so high that many at Brandeis could never imagine not attending a university and attempting a different career path. However, I would be startled to learn that no Brandeis graduate ever had to take a job he or she was overqualified for after entering the workforce post-college.
That is not to say that students should not pursue higher education, but many students seem to see the blue-collar career route as simply not good enough. Yet I can imagine that many graduates have found themselves at the very least close to jobs that their blue-collar counterparts might hold.
At this graduation, the speakers made note of some of the impressive universities that the students had been accepted to and led the crowd in a standing ovation for those who chose a military future.
But despite wishing "good luck" to every student regardless of his or her future endeavors, the speakers never made mention of those who decided to go straight into the workforce.
The omission of such a large population of students is representative of the stigma that our society has with a student's decision to pursue higher education-a stigma that is especially strong at Brandeis University, where overachievement is commonplace.
I have heard friends talking about people from their hometowns who did not attend a university after high school. For such a seemingly liberal and enlightened bunch of students, few members of the national university community seem to consider not attending school as a legitimate option.
Here at Brandeis, every student tends to participate in as many clubs as he or she can possibly handle, take the highest-level classes, engage in unspoken competition with one another and have hopes so high that many at Brandeis could never imagine not attending a university and attempting a different career path. However, I would be startled to learn that no Brandeis graduate ever had to take a job he or she was overqualified for after entering the workforce post-college.
That is not to say that students should not pursue higher education, but many students seem to see the blue-collar career route as simply not good enough. Yet I can imagine that many graduates have found themselves at the very least close to jobs that their blue-collar counterparts might hold.
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