What Happens Next?

            My original blog post revolved around the idea that people view college and especially the male population in a stereotypical way that influences people’s views on what a “higher education” is really all about. I focused my opinionated view on the movie “National Lampoon’s: Van Wilder”.  On the other end, my topic and research centered around whether or not today’s national curriculum at the college level is up to par and whether or not certain courses, particularly liberal studies classes, should even be required. Are these classes really helping to expand student’s minds and open them up to new ideas? A student who is going to school for a medical or engineering degree might not find a class such as theatre relevant to his/her cause?

            Two articles stood out in finding the information needed to decide between whether or not liberal studies classes should still be required for all students and if today’s curriculum is an effective way to prepare students for the rest of their lives. Roger Marples in his article “Aims of Education” speaks about how important liberal arts courses are in developing quality social skills more so than actually learning and regurgitating information for classes we believe we are actually going to have to remember in the future. Marples also mentions how these liberal studies courses we all mostly find mundane and irrelevant are actually very positive in building great critical thinking skills. In a way I believe this is definitely true. Marples argues that liberal studies courses do the things other classes throughout your college education cannot. In your core math, chemistry, history classes you don’t have the time or the chance to develop a way to communicate your ideas, or to express yourself because all these classes are set in stone with answers, information, etc. and there is not as much room to expand. Liberal Arts classes are designed so that students, primarily freshman, are able to begin college with the full experience of what it means to be a college student. As a college student there is an unspoken ideal that you should express yourself, through your ideas and opinions you build your own character that you will carry with you for the rest of your life. These liberal arts classes hone in on that idea and you are sort of forced into building answers to questions not really specific. In this you also “think outside of the box” which is the essential part of critical thinking. Marples explains to us that while the things we learn from textbooks and power points in these classes might not be important ever again in our lives, there is a reason they are required and it is vital to a higher education.

            The second article that will be focused on in this blog post was “National Curriculum Assessments and Programmes of Study: Validity and Impact." Written by Dylan William. William focuses his claim around the idea that national curriculum is defined by the way students perform on assessments. He believes that the curriculum is centered around whether or not students can master information taught to them long enough to pass exams required for their diploma. William claims that the validity of higher education has taken a beating and is being tainted by standardized testing. National Curriculum just is not where it should be at the moment. I somewhat agree with what William is saying but I also believe that your education is what you make of it. Too often do students cheat, or go through short cuts in their work, and it shows in the long run. If a student wants to learn and is completely interested with what they are studying for then they will not only regurgitate the information but will master it.

            So you might ask how all his information correlates at all with Van Wilder? It took a while to draw any kind of comparison because the film does not focus on the academic aspect at all, but one crucial moment in the film is when Van must learn an entire semester’s worth of information to pass his exam and graduate college. Just the thought of accomplishing this is humorous, but surprising it is not just a movie scene. Some students actually attempt this simply because they do not know how to organize themselves or they just don’t take school as seriously as they should until the last minute. Van was a stereotypical guy, who partied hard, drank and enjoyed the social aspects of college and realized at the last minute he needed to get out. Somehow he managed to accomplish the feat and I personally was left wondering, ‘what now?’ What happens after you finish college and you’re considered an “educated man/woman”? Van Wilder basically made a joke out of the academic side of college and furthered the stereotype that students don’t take it as seriously as they should which is completely false. Everything in reality is much more difficult than depicted and honestly you really are forced to EARN your degree no matter what it is. Marples, William, and I would all agree that being a college student is a challenging time in which socially, mentally, and sometimes physically you are tested to see what you’re made of. Only the toughest make it out on top and with today’s world as competitive as it is, nothing comes easy, the only question is what happens after?

Works Cited:

William, Dylan. "National Curriculum Assessments and Programmes of Study: Validity and Impact."    (2009): n. pag. UNCC Library Database. Web. Mar.-Apr. 2015.

Marples, Roger. "Aims Of Education." (2007): n. pag. UNCC Library Database. Web. Mar.-Apr.        2015.