It is really bizarre for a university student, after more than a year and a half, to seek a faculty member’s advice about what his major should be. It’s hard to understand what has been going on with a student like that. How did he manage to enroll in the university without at least having an idea of what he wanted to specialize in?
This reflects a lack of determination and unclear vision and goals for a student in his college years. There must be some sort of dysfunction in the student’s journey from high school. It’s always questionable that a university admits students who were chosen based on certain standards as the best graduates. But once those students take their first academic steps, they illustrate the lack of uniqueness they were chosen for. We also suffer from a lack of creative students and the gifted on our university campuses. Gifted or distinguished students are a minority in both academic and professional performance.
Universities are not responsible for nourishing students as much as schools are. Students usually spend four years in college and twelve years in school. Those twelve years are crucial ones in the students’ lives and creativity as well as free and rational thinking must be developed. But what happens in our schools is totally the opposite. The years are wasted in teaching the students how to memorize rather than how to interact, reason and think. They graduate from high school and they’ve lost their talents because of the boring style of teaching and all they know is what they have memorized and imitated.
The 12 years students spend in school prior to going to a university is a very long journey during which the individual forms his traits and attributes. Through the curriculum and extra-curricular activities, teachers could influence students positively during the years where they are most receptive and willing to change for the best.
I believe that our schools need to create guidance and counseling programs for students in order to enhance their skills and talents from kindergarten onward. These programs should be part of the students’ curriculum activities and not complementary or optional. Investing in students in their early years will encourage creativity and innovation, which our country is in desperate need of.
