Thursday, 13 November 2008

• I traveled to D.C. this past week, touring five colleges. Existing in my mind there is something that continues to preoccupy my thoughts.

  I question the purpose of college.

  I understand that college prepares people for future careers, and will serve as a certain kind of proof in identifying the legitimacy of the person who receives the degree.  I understand that most people need this form of certification to work in an intellectually stimulating career. However, I do not desire this. At least, not initially.

  I want to travel the world.   This sounds incredibly cliché, but it is my primary desire.  I don't know if I will join the Peace Corps, or work with a church doing missionary work, but I need one or two years away from the United States to understand what I actually want to do with my life.  I feel this burning desire craving for freedom from debt and the constraints of society.  I yearn for an understanding of humanity, of perseverance, dedication, and struggle. I yearn for that understanding which people lack the ability to teach in a classroom setting, and I lack from my sheltered childhood.

  I want to learn, but in a different way.

  I am the person who wants to study social interactions from the confines of a coffee shop. I am the person who would listen to stories and learn life lessons through the discussions she shares as she cuts hair. I am the person who is tired of an institutionalized education, and is searching for something deeper.

  So here's my question. Is this desire unorthodox? Is this acquisition of knowledge as worthy as that which can be attained at a college?

  What I desire, can that be classified as knowledge?

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