There's an ad that's been running for several weeks now for an online college. The person talking says that he doesn't want a job -- he wants a CAREER. He says that he doesn't want to sit in on classes and follow a schedule and he gloats that he isn't alone. So he and a couple of other students are pictured wading through a crowd of regular kids, wearing pink shirts and standing out as different.
What on earth are they talking about?
Most people, even those on a career track, do start out with a job. They go to work at a certain time in the morning and they finish at a certain time at night. Their employer has expectations of them and they don't get to write their own job descriptions. In other words, there is structure. They are expected to fit in.
My point is -- how does this make-up-your-own-university kind of learning fit in with the rigors and structure of the work world? What kind of learning do you end up with? Who would promise this kind of experience in college and why?
Speaking from experience, accreditation is important. If you want the degree to matter, you also want the degree to be accredited by some academic body. Doing your own thing isn't going to get that done. The kid talking sounds spoiled, bratty, and totally unappreciative. He sounds arrogant and abrasive as though no one can teach him a thing in school -- he's already smarter than everyone. Again, speaking from experience, that kind of attitude doesn't work.
The hunger to learn, to understand, is fundamental to success in any academic environment. Years of experience and know-how goes into what is taught in the classes. Sometimes it certainly seems as though the course has nothing to do with the direction your life is taking at the moment, but believe me when I tell you that the bird course I took and the local flora course I took helped me in all kinds of ways. Just because I never used the information at work doesn't mean I don't appreciate everything.
When we also use that drive for learning and understanding to fuel study of our faith, that's even better. Lifelong learners have the ability to use study guides to follow the Bible and what it has to say to us in this so-called modern time. The further we delve into life in the Holy Land all those years ago, the more we realize that the same kinds of things happen today as well. The same weaknesses, same sins, same stiff-necked attitudes.
Humility is a wonderful attribute, because it means that we learn something from everyone we meet. It means that we know we have wonderful gifts, but rather than bragging about them to others, we respectfully realize that our gifts ARE gifts -- from God. That takes away the arrogance and the abrasiveness.
Whoever wrote the ad that is airing on television isn't helping anyone, and in the long run, certainly isn't helping the online college.
Our Lenten quote for today is:
"To the servant of God ... every place is the right place, and every time is the right time.
-----Letters of St. Catherine
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