The small talk around our kitchen table often centers on what today’s college students ought to choose as majors. It’s an especially sensitive topic for me because I have always had a sense that members of my family who were more financially successful than I have been are a bit disapproving of my choice to be a teacher. I’ve heard a number of would’ve, could’ve should’ve comments from well meaning folks who seem to wonder if I squandered my intellectual potential on a career that seems to always be under fire from the general public. I suppose that in their minds the least I might have done would have been to be a college professor rather than a mathematics teacher who never once cleared six figures in my salary.
I suppose they will never understand me or those who choose to major in music or dance or theater. They can’t imagine a practical use for English or History or Psychology. They lay most of the problems of the economy on young people who foolishly squander tuition on studying seemingly silly things. They insist that college should force students to be practical by choosing science or mathematics or technology or engineering. They see studying business as a far more practical route to take than a study of linguistics. They don’t appear to understand that not everyone enjoys such subjects and some even have the audacity to want to feel good about going to work when they finally use the lessons that they learned at a university.
I constantly find myself defending the person who chooses to major in anthropology or visual arts. As an educator I know all too well that each of us have different ways of learning, different parts of our brains that are more active, different dreams of how we wish to live our lives. Sometimes the heft of our paychecks is not as important to many of us as doing something that gives us joy, that has meaning on a daily basis.
Such issues led me to eagerly read a lovely article about an author’s attendance at a thirty year reunion of her class at Harvard. The fifty something alums gathered over a weekend filled with stories of how life had been for them since the times when they eagerly dreamed of futures that may or may not have ultimately transpired. In the pensive moments of conversation the author learned much about who is happy and who is still searching for the joy that they once sought.
In general she found that the most joyful and contented folks were those who chose to be teachers or doctors. Interacting with people and making a real difference in their lives seemed to be quite satisfying. Many of the business people spoke of trying something else before reaching retirement age. They were comfortable financially but had missed the feeling of accomplishment that comes with serving others. Ironically the artists of all kinds admitted to struggling with lower incomes but when all was said and done would not trade the dleight that they felt from performing or creating that was the main source of their satisfaction.
The author pointed out that what everyone talked about the most was family, relationships, love. They had reached a point of being less judgmental than they had once been and less likely to worry about how they might be viewed in superficial ways. The meaning in life was found in people and those who had opportunities to share their talents with people were the most certain that they had chosen the right pathways in life.
I often tell young people to do what they love. While that may sound dangerous if that person loves cooking more than anything, why would I not encourage him/her to find a way to use that passion as a life’s work? We always do a better job if we wake up in the morning wanting to go to work. We certainly need to pay rent and eat but I can’t think of anything worse than dreading a job that brings absolutely no joy no matter how much it may pay.
Hundreds of years ago education was not so much about providing specific skills for a profession or career but about teaching young people to think and to understand how to use words and numbers and ideas. Scholars got a liberal arts degree in which they mastered writing, rhetoric, philosophy, Latin, Greek, literature, mathematics, and such. The focus was on widening the focus for students rather than narrowing down their abilities to a single area. Colleges and universities offer many majors not just to increase their cash flow or to find jobs for professors but because they know that theirs is a place for many kinds of knowledge in the world. How dull would life be without the many avenues of study that we humans have created. How awful it would feel if we all had to do the same kind of jobs.
Those Harvard grads seemed to have figured out that happiness is not always found in titles or bank accounts. Those things are nice to have but when we sit down with old friends and honestly speak of our lives the commonality that we all seem to share is all about what we do for others rather than what we have accumulated for ourselves. We need to remember that whenever a young person earnestly admits that he wants to try something that may sounds foolish to us. Who are we to dash dreams in favor of being practical? That young man or woman who majors in journalism may change the world.
All It Takes Is A Little Love 