Anyone ever seen the movie "Accepted"? Biggest star in the whole movie, Lewis Black. I have no idea who else is in it, nor do I care. Google it, or IMDB it. Basic synopsis, guy gets rejected from every college he applies to, so in a moment of desperation a guy creates a college, and it explodes into something he could not imagine.
One of the last scenes in the movie is this guy and his 'students' presenting their case to the Accreditation board for them to become a formal college. Here is the speech from that scene that has inspired me today.
Bartleby Gaines: Nah, I'm not going to answer your question, 'cause you guys have already made up your minds. I'm an expert in rejection, and I can see it on your faces. And it's too bad that you judge us by the way we look and not by who we are. Just because you want us to be more like them when the truth is we're not like them. And I am damn proud of that fact. I mean, Harmon College and their - and their 100 years of tradition. But tradition of what? Of hazing kids and humiliating anyone who's a bit different? Of putting so much pressure on kids they turn into these - these stress freaks and caffeine addicts.
Dean Van Horne: Your phony school demeans real colleges everywhere!
Bartleby Gaines: Why? Why can't we both exist? Huh? You can have your grades, and your rules and your structure and your ivory towers, and then we'll do things our way. Why do we have to conform to what you want?
Dean Van Horne: Your curriculum is a joke, and you, sir, are a criminal.
Bartleby Gaines: You know what? You're a criminal. 'Cause you rob these kids of their creativity and their passion. That's the real crime! Well, what about you parents? Did -did the system really work out for you? Did it teach you to follow your heart, or to just play it safe, roll over? What about you guys? Did you always want to be school administrators? Dr. Alexander, was that your dream? Or maybe no, maybe you wanted to be a poet. Maybe you wanted to be a magician or an artist. Maybe you just wanted to travel the world. Look, I - I - I - I lied to you. I lied to all of you, and I'm sorry. Dad, especially to you. But out of that desperation, something happened that was so amazing. Life was full of possibilities. A - and isn't that what you ultimately want for us? As parents, I mean, is - is that, is possibilities. Well, we came here today to ask for your approval, and something just occurred to me. I don't give a shit. Who cares about your approval? We don't need your approval to tell us that what we did was real. 'Cause there are so few truths in this world, that when you see one, you just know it. And I know that it is a truth that real learning took place at South Harmon. Whether you like it or not, it did. 'Cause you don't need teachers or classrooms or - or fancy highbrow traditions or money to really learn. You just need people with a desire to better themselves, and we got that by the shit at South Harmon. So you can go ahead, sign your forms, reject us and shoot us down, and do whatever you gotta do. It doesn't really matter at this point. Because we'll never stop learning, and we'll never stop growing, and we'll never forget the ideals what were instilled in us at our place. 'Cause we are SHIT heads now, and we'll be SHIT heads forever and nothing you say can do or stamp can take that away from us!
I have come to realize having been graduated from college for almost six months that I have had a similar experience, in so far as my college curriculum succeeded in sucking away my passion, and only preparing me for what THEY wanted me to be prepared for.
I want to work in radio. I want to be involved in sports broadcasting in either TV or radio, preferably radio. My education prepared me to be in television news. Now, this happens a lot, I am sure of it. The college or university you want to attend, or the one you can afford, doesn't have a curriculum for exactly what you are looking for, so you, as a student, compromise for whatever is closest, often being forced to learn skills you don't necessarily want or need. What benefit is that to a student? I would say that your faculty and administrators would argue that you never know when you may need that skill or knowledge. To my former professors who may want to pose that question to me, I can tell you when I will need the skills I learned in all those classes about television news: NEVER. I do not plan to compromise my career choice with working somewhere I do not want to. I would rather be a late night radio disc jockey who makes minimum wage then to subject myself to ANOTHER job that I hate. Been there, done that, and all I got was this lousy t-shirt and a mild sleeping disorder.
So, first I am calling out my old professors. That's right, I am calling out my old professors because everytime I suggested a minor change in the way things were done, or how this class or that lab could be tweaked to better serve MY education and MY passion, I was at best summarily dismissed because I was the student, and at worst actually had a door slammed in my face BY MY ADVISER. It was my professors who sucked away my passion for being a college DJ, it was my professors who had me contemplating dropping out of college, and it was my professors that ultimately gave me the drive to graduate college, not because they inspired me to be my best, or anything even remotely close to that, but because they inspired me to prove to myself that I could do what I wanted to do with my life not BECAUSE of the skills I learned in college, but IN SPITE of my education.
Second, I want to tell any current, future, or former college students considering a return the academia to NOT STAND FOR THIS. Professors, by and large, fail to understand the nature of the student/teacher relationship in college, and how it differs from that same relationship in high school. First and foremost, DO NOT take any belitting by anyone in a position of authority. You may be young, and you may not have the life experiences of those attempting to impart some bit of knowledge to you, but that DOES NOT give them any right to treat you like anything less then an adult. They should not treat you like a child, because you are not. Also, do not let them steal your passion for any topic. As a part of the student/professor relationship, you need to realize that YOU PAY THEM. College is a service industry. You pay tuition, fees, and room and board to attend a university or college, you pay for the SERVICES your institution provides. You also can determine, within reason, how often you take advantage of the particular service of learning a particular topic, ie go to class. In essence, professors WORK FOR YOU. Some have forgotten that, so please, politely remind them who is in charge of YOUR higher education.
I will find my passion again, I will find my zen, my peace. I WILL fight for what I believe in, and no one, especially someone I am paying to perform a service for me, will EVER treat me like my college professors treated me. Just another step in my fight against douchebagery.
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