I had coffee yesterday with Rebecca - a Director of Development from my university. For reasons too mundane to discuss in this post, I end up talking with someone from the university staff every few years about what I’m doing, what my old professors are up to, etc.

Inevitably, the conversation turns to my thoughts and opinions on college education. I think a lot of students (and universities) tie the degree with a job too closely. I don’t believe (or want) a university to be a vocational school. It should be a place where you can explore, debate, and seek knowledge. College - especially graduate school, is where I learned to love learning, and where I learned how to learn. Developing skills is one thing - developing an ability and passion to always try to learn new things is a completely different level.

Trivia

For those who don’t know, I studied music. I double majored in music education and music composition (which means I wrote a lot of music for middle schoolers to play), and after f…