Learning...outside of class

I would like to start by saying that I am by nature very stickler about my grades. Always labeled the overachiever and the know-it-all my entire life I now have pulled a 3.89 in college. My grades have fed me, payed my rent, and given me something to always work toward. The benefit of being a hardworking student is the scholarships you receive as a result.

But unfortunately one would argue that the scope of the classroom and a GPA is very limited and I agree with this. In class you are learning about a very narrow topic, such as art history or how to master creative writing. I am not even sure if half of the things that I learn in my classes will be useful for much besides cocktail parties and early morning radio trivia.

There is no life GPA. There is no one grading you everyday. "You helped the little old lady cross the street, A+!" I wish. There is no space on a job application or a resume for "street smarts". In fact you could be one of the most intelligent people out there but if you cannot regurgitate in a classroom than you might as well call it quits.

That is the sad reality of our education system. Pay thousands of dollars a year to prove you are capable of following directions and listening. It seems to me that you actually learn more from the professors themselves than their curriculum. You learn more in the dorms than you do in the classroom. You learn more off campus than on.

I love to learn. But my grades slip because I cannot regurgitate information. I can apply it. Frankly I wish that GPA was based on that application rather than on what facts you can put on a test. But I cannot escape the system as it is so I endeavor to learn outside the classroom, teach myself what I need to know. It boils down to making your own way in this world, not simply repeating the actions and facts that have been repeated to you.

Here is a concept: Skip Graduate School, Save $32,000, Do This Instead

New York...among other things.

I am sad to say that I have completely neglected blogging over the past two months. Time to play catch up again.

New York. I miss it even now. I still have little bits of it inside me. The first day was terrifying. But we spent those first two days in the Museum of Natural History and the Metropolitan Museum of Art so you feel safe in those huge buildings. My legs have never hurt so bad in my entire life. Everything is crazy, always. The subways are crazy and smelly. Everyone pushes their way in and their way out. You don't say "Excuse me", you just go. You sit down next to someone who you have no idea who they are and two minutes later you are in Times Square where it never is night. All there are is lights, everywhere. It is wonderful. Macy's was insane. I have never been in a store like that. There is an entire monstrous section for ties. I wanted to buy one for every man I knew. I would have if I would have had the money. Everyone wears black except for tourists. They are always wearing white shoes. They are a dead give-away. We made a point of not looking like tourists because they get treated badly. Everywhere you go you have to be loud and you have to demand what you want. Little Italy is wonderful. There are hosts on the streets that yell as you pass by "Table for four, step right in this way...Okay maybe next time!" And in Chinatown if you look at something like you might possibly like it they are right there saying, "You like? You like? For you five dollar, I have in purple, just five dollar." It is wonderful.

Everywhere in New York you go fast. The Subways go fast, the taxis go fast, the people go fast. They run up escalators. There is no such thing as a fat New Yorker. I don't think they exist. In the west we are slugs. We drive slow. We mosey down the street. We ride the escalator. People in the western towns can be complete slobs. New Yorkers are well dressed. You get better service if you are. I wore slacks everyday. It was worth it. Tourists came up to us to ask for directions.

We saw four shows. The Rockettes Christmas Show, The 39 Steps, A Little Night Music, and Avenue Q. All of the shows were wonderful in their own ways.

I want to go back to New York City. I want to go to graduate school near there someday. I would have to toughen up some, New Yorkers are tough and Jersey people are horribly rude but I think that after a week there I was able to handle it. You just dish it right back out. You have to. There is no other way. Maybe Rutgers is the place for me to go. All I know is that someday I will go back.

I <3 NYC

Happy Wandering,

CCosner