Recently, a writer I know was bemoaning a trite parenting-type story that she wrote. After all, she was an Ivy League graduate, shouldn’t she be doing something more with her skills than blogging about consumer products?
Well, what should she be doing?
We tend to define the successful payoff from a degree in terms of income and achievement in certain very narrow career categories. Thus, being a trader who makes a fortune by ripping off individual investors is somehow better than being a blogger who writes about fun things for families with young children to do. Being the sort of Senator who denies the basics of science and the U.S. Constitution is somehow better than being the Local School Council president who finds funding for the music teacher.
Why? Why do we limit “success” to such narrow categories?
I completely understand the desire for an economic payoff after the investment in college tuition. After all, that is one of the primary incentives for going to college. It shouldn’t be the only one, though. We need people in this world who can think critically, who can evaluate information and communicate well. We need people who can make art and music and who understand all sorts of ways of looking at the world.
But the accolades go to those who make ridiculous amounts of money or who hold positions of power, no matter how they made that money, how they came to be elected, or what they have done with the position they have held.
When an elite education was the privilege of wealthy white men, their standards became the measure of what a successful graduate should be. But haven’t we moved beyond that? Do we really still think that being at the top of the Wall Street pyramid is better than being ethical and creative and fun? Is being the CEO of a company that destroys the environment or exploits workers really a credit to the alma mater?
You know what? As far as I’m concerned, you’re a credit to your alma mater if you are able to pay your student loans, hold down an honest job, and make the world a better place, you’re doing fine. Because here’s the thing: so many of those who receive the accolades and awards are not making the world better. There is no honor in that.
