Why are we here

While registering for school this semester, a day from the previous semester came to mind. One day, during a discussion in one of my political science classes, the professor pointed out a disturbing but truthful observation: Many college students are in such institutions for the sole purpose of obtaining a degree and not an education. Hmmm…makes you think, right?
It’s sad to say that this is displayed on a daily basis right here at our beloved Southern University. We are so set on seed of “the prize” that we forget the rewards that seed can reap. As each semester comes and goes, we make sure we have “just enough” hours and required courses for our majors. Oh, forbid it if we have to stay another semester, if we have to put out some more money.
A fellow student in that same class pointed out that we have a collage of classes available, yet we don’t take them because we don’t “need” them. This also is true.
I once learned in an elementary class that sometimes we decide what we need. And sometimes that decision can be wrong.
There is also a flip side to this situation. Some students are here not even for the degree. Some students are here just for the refund check. They are here because Southern is “the place” to be. They are here because their families have been here for ages. They are here “just because.” I don’t know about you, but that truly saddens me.
Some students choose simply not to go to class and just “chill.” Why not go to class? Isn’t that the purpose of being here? I’m not speaking from on top of a soapbox or anything on this. Everyone, and I do mean everyone, has slipped from time to time on the “correct” daily routine. However it makes you think when you reflect on our ancestors who were deprived of such a privilege that is so accessible to us.
I looked in one of my grandmother’s yearbooks from Southern dated 1952. The students looked so energetic, so alive, so very ready to learn. That look is somewhat absent among students here. Don’t you think?
I have to ask myself again, why are we here?
College is meant to be and higher level of learning. Let me repeat the latter part of that statement…higher learning. As a senior here at Southern, I have come to learn that the term “higher learning” is not just restricted to academics. It can be for life. Think about it.