Out the door of academia

With the coming and going of Aug. 27, another fall semester kicked off at IU. \nIt should have started with the yelling of "It has begun!" by that guy from the "Mortal Kombat" movie. (Only you TBS connoisseurs know what I'm talking about.)\nAnyway, the school year has started again, with all the typical signs. Freshmen walking around, bags full of books, eyes glued to their campus map and missing the street sign they are about to walk into. Old friends and classmates meeting in the street. And of course, those students lounging behind Woodburn Hall, taking a nap under the sun or just listening to someone telling us why we are all going to hell. (That's right, froshies, no use in fighting it!)\nOne more of the familiar sites is the madness going on at all the local bookstores, as students attempt to find their books. In all likelihood, these texts will be opened only once and will prove handier as a doorstop than in helping that calculus grade. \nThis year, I am lucky enough to be an employee at one of these fine book-peddling establishments, and my position has awarded me much time to people watch. My conclusion from my hours of observation is that college is set up all wrong.\nI have watched many a student, both freshmen and experienced Hoosiers, struggle to find their books in a relatively simple system. Future leaders of America, from business to theater majors, all seem to be unable to grasp the simple concept of getting their books. Which is what makes me think the educational system is wrong. \nSince I am about to walk out the door on academia, I'm pretty confident in my observations of the institutions in which I have spent almost my entire life. Basically, the classes we attend while at college aren't what we need for that mythical place that is the "real world." I know because I have been out there. I had an internship before my junior year, and basically much of what I learned was no good for me.\nSure, the theories I have taken from the journalism school helped me, but there have been plenty other classes I've taken that have not. While I am not against a well-rounded education, I think the requirements for graduation need to be scaled down a little. I took two full years of Italian, and I can't even speak it. And it's not because I wasn't any good in the class, I was a B student. But the time I spent in that class could have been used for something that is more practical. \nIt's true some people that know me might find this a little hypocritical, given the roster of classes I've taken. But my point is not that every class has to be strictly about whatever profession one wants to go into in life, but that the requirements should be scaled to that regard. \nCollege should be about preparing us for the rest of our lives, and knowing about the countries involved in the War of 1812 isn't going to be the edge that gives you that first job over some other applicant. What will give you that job are the skills you could be learning in college instead of learning about something else that is useless. \nNow excuse me while I go start my reading for my class about molds and fungi.