Learning Is The Key Of Life Analysis

The start of the college experience is one that is like no other, in that it is one of the hardest times for a student. The college experience shapes the minds and futures of many students all around the world. This is a time in college students’ lives when anticipation and anxiety flood their minds. There are many pressures that college imposes on first year college students, but there is no greater pressure than choosing a field of study. Picking a major is one of the most difficult and frightening decisions a college student can face. The dilemma of choosing a major in college is caused by a student’s ignorance of information about majors offered to him.
Many college students have trouble choosing a major to study because they don’t
have any idea of what it is they want to do later in life. Some people think that by choosing a major a person is settling on a specific career for life, when in reality a major only shapes a career path with many options you can follow.
There are a broad range of areas to study that a particular student may be interested in, but it is difficult choosing one that the student wants to pursue. We can relate to the former editor of the Utne Reader, Jon Spayde, in his essay Learning is the Key of Life. Spayde says, “You can figure out what you can do pretty quickly, but the ethical understanding of what you ought to do comes very slowly (68).” This shows that many students may have one, two, or even three fields of study that they potentially may want to pursue, but the part that takes time is figuring out which one best suits you. When we refer to the Morehouse College mission statement we can see the importance of a student’s understanding. The statement explains the goal, to “foster understanding and appreciation of the specific knowledge and skills needed for the pursuit of
professional careers and/or graduate study (58).” The importance of applying knowledge of particular studies to the decision making of choosing a major will result in a happier college student with a more successful college experience and future career. However, if the choosing a major is to happen to any student, he must not get frustrated or give up, for it is in the college’s best interest to help all students solve their problems. For those students who feel like you are at the point of doom, well, they are not. There will be help that is much needed and provided to students by school counseling officials and school advisories to help them choose the correct field of study. As a freshman in college I have recently noticed many of the issues that incoming students most frequently run into, finding a correct major was one of mine. I found that it is most beneficial to take and try classes that you may be interested in so that if in fact you do find a subject that you are intrigued by, you may consider tackling that major. By narrowing the down the possible work fields that you may want to work in, it can help give many possible ranges of study that you may be interested in.
The thoughts of the many challenges that various majors impose sometimes prevents students from actually even trying to pursue a particular major. Such challenges could include very demanding pre-requisite courses, long vigorous reports and research papers, or even long labs and seminars. What can you gain if you don’t even try or attempt to face your deepest fears and challenges? Hard work and determination is all that is needed in order to overcome these somewhat fearful obstacles. To more fully understand the necessity of courage in a student we can refer to the Morehouse College mission statement which says, it is the colleges duty to “cultivate the personal attributes of self-confidence (58).” This is an important facet that helps students engage in their desired field of study. The key is believing in your ability to achieve what you have set out to do. John Henry Newman, a renowned Anglican priest, explains how this ability can be attained, in his excerpt The Idea of a University. Newman uses the term, University Training, which is said to “prepare him to fill any post with credit, and to master any subject with facility (54).” This indicates that college isn’t just a place where the students have to face their fears, but a place where students can first learn to conquer their fears, leading them to master there subject of learning with credible work. Through the college experience there is a goal which every student should set for himself. It is said best by the dean of Princeton University's Harold W. McGraw Jr. Center for Teaching and Learning, S. Georgia Nugent in her excerpt, Morality Based Learning. Nugent states, “These texts have, to my mind, almost unparalleled power to anchor us in the world and confront us with both our wrenching limitations and our soaring possibilities and human beings (127).” This sums up a solution to this problem of fear and lack of self-confidence, by causing us to face our fears and leading us to see the “soaring possibilities” of the right major for you. Weeks before my first day of college I chose to enter as a biology major and was very skeptical of whether or not I could manage the five full credits of hard work. In hopes of solving my problem I met with a counselor who helped me to remove my fear and persuaded me to at least try a course in biology. In the end I did not stick with that particular major, but it did help me find a field of study that I really like and plan to pursue. Jon Spayde was one who believes that our original insights take time to receive answers. Spayde talks about how, answers don’t come easily (68), and in this case decisions of a major can only be resolved if you expand your ranges of subjects, and face the fears and multiple challenges set upon you. By not letting the fears and challenges previously mentioned affect you, it will be a lot easier to try different subjects of study, leading to a major in your best interest.
The difficulty of finding an interesting field of study doesn’t so much prevent students from picking a major, but it is a very important issue when choosing and will directly benefit oneself. Finding a particular major that interests you is one of the most important things that a student has to consider when faced with the challenge of picking a field of study. It may be easier for some than others, and sometimes a student may already know what they want to do going into their first day of college. Statistics show that an average student changes their major at least once through their college career. Finding an enjoyable major is crucial to being successful in that study and is explained in a more comprehensible way by Jon Spade who says, “people cannot learn what they do not love (69).” Spayde continues to explain that the love for the subject or subjects is seen as an “idea of learning that is encountered and infused with eros (69).” This asserts that if we find this lovable connection and relationship between our minds and course of study, then we won’t be so susceptible to becoming unconcerned about our work. Becoming more interested in our course of study means making it easier for a student to focus on the relationship between their future everyday lives and there major. This close connection that students need to make between school and their lives is very relevant to the excerpt Learn Statistics. Go Abroad, by the University Professor of Philosophy at Princeton University, K. Anthony Appiah. Appiah notes, “the liberal part of liberal education is supposed to prepare you for life as a free person (124).” This suggests that if students can establish this feeling of liberty it may be much easier to undertake subjects they feel interested in. Appiah uses the term letting 100 flowers bloom, to express the support of letting students make their own decisions. He declares, that students “put together a range of courses as they like (124).” This could be used as a way for students to choose a major by picking classes they feel most interested in. This will also make the student not feel so discourage knowing that they are not so limited in their choices. Students need to make sure they find a passionable subject of study so that they can focus on the more important aspect of the college experience and that is, worrying about gaining knowledge and life skills and not so much about what major you are going to pursue. When it finally became apparent to me that biology wasn’t my particular field of study I was slowly introduced to the major of nursing, which could be somewhat related to biology. After doing extensive research on the nursing major I was very eager to engage in this field. Taking pre-requisite courses that were somewhat related to nursing only encouraged me more to take on the challenge of the major. To directly benefit oneself as a student you should focus on the challenge of finding a major that is interesting to you so you won’t have to face a stressful first year of college.
Many students have trouble choosing a major either because their college is limited in what majors they offer or the student has just not been informed of the fields of study open to him.
The difficulty of finding a major of interest through the limited variety of majors makes it hard for some students to become settled in their desired field. Some colleges are very limited in options of majors offered to the students, thus creating this question of, “What to study now?” John Newman focuses much on the idea of creating a broad range of studies for students. Newman said, “It is a great point then to enlarge the range of studies which a University professes, even for the sake of the students (52).” By creating an extensive range of studies students may find it easier to choose a major. College administrations should make it a goal to offer a wider range of studies so that students can become more easily successful in college. Thanks to faculty and staff, schools have created this idea of generic transformation that is established, meaning that students are now offered more the classes that relate to them. This idea is closely related to a goal from the Evergreen State College mission statement. The goal is, “continually reviewing, assessing and modifying programs and services to fit changing needs of students and society (59).” By conforming to the changing needs of the students and creating new classes that relate to them, students will find it much easier to choose
a major. Advising services should make a better effort to inform students of the programs offered and information about each of the programs so that this problem of choosing a major can be solved. At first as an undeclared student I felt that I really hadn’t been too readily informed about all the different majors offered. I felt as if I knew what majors were offered but was to afraid to pursue one because I didn’t know enough about each one of them. Some research may have to be done in order to present the student with a full understanding of the possible majors they might pursue. Some students are uninformed of the studies offered to them and some schools just don’t offer a wide range of studies, all contributing to the trouble of choosing a major of study.
Being unaware of what a student wants to do in life, discouraged by certain challenges, unable to find something that interests the student, and the lack of programs and information at some universities all contribute to the dilemma of choosing a particular major. All in some way set a challenge for students trying to choose a major.