Today's college education provides us with opportunities for bringing out the
creativity and talent that we have within us. This is nurtured both by our
learned professors, and by the growing dimension of knowledge sources, such as
the World Wide Web and multimedia sources. Our educational experience is being
transformed both within and beyond the traditional classroom. However,
challenges still exist.
At the end of every semester, students in my
university are required to fill out a questionnaire as a review of the previous
semester. The questions usually cover a broad range of college life, from
curriculum adjustment to canteen service. And almost every time, the
questionnaire includes one essential question, that is: As a college student,
what are your major challenges? And almost every answer includes two aspects:
studying and professional. These two challenges will remain our preoccupations
as long as we live in such a competitive world.
A series of challenges in
our studies start from almost the beginning of our freshman year. We may wonder
whether we've chosen the right major. We may wonder if the extracurricular
activities add credits to our studies. We may work our heads off to get a
glorious A, because B is already mediocre and C is almost unacceptable. Later on
we may be competing with our hardworking, intelligent peers, including our best
friends to get into an ideal graduate school. All of these sound so familiar and
they have somehow made our college education so goal-obsessed that we sometimes
fail to fully enjoy our educational experience.
Apart from challenges in
learning, there are also professional challenges. The competitive world today
has also brought about the "Knowledge Economy," which requires the effective use
of knowledge for economic and social development, and also requires skilled and
multi-oriented students with a marketable vocational sense. Therefore,
sophisticated calculations upon the value of a university degree are being made.
Graduate employability statistics are being scrutinized. Programs like resume
writing and interview skills are seen as a must. Again as I've said above, when
professional concern dominates our college education, we may lose the essence of
our educational experience.
Indeed, facing these two challenges, how can
students manage to be what the employers seek and at the same time to enjoy a
valuable, insightful and rewarding educational experience? Today's college education provides us with opportunities for bringing out the
creativity and talent that we have within us. This is nurtured both by our
learned professors, and by the growing dimension of knowledge sources, such as
the World Wide Web and multimedia sources. Our educational experience is being
transformed both within and beyond the traditional classroom. However,
challenges still exist.
At the end of every semester, students in my
university are required to fill out a questionnaire as a review of the previous
semester. The questions usually cover a broad range of college life, from
curriculum adjustment to canteen service. And almost every time, the
questionnaire includes one essential question, that is: As a college student,
what are your major challenges? And almost every answer includes two aspects:
studying and professional. These two challenges will remain our preoccupations
as long as we live in such a competitive world.
A series of challenges in
our studies start from almost the beginning of our freshman year. We may wonder
whether we've chosen the right major. We may wonder if the extracurricular
activities add credits to our studies. We may work our heads off to get a
glorious A, because B is already mediocre and C is almost unacceptable. Later on
we may be competing with our hardworking, intelligent peers, including our best
friends to get into an ideal graduate school. All of these sound so familiar and
they have somehow made our college education so goal-obsessed that we sometimes
fail to fully enjoy our educational experience.
Apart from challenges in
learning, there are also professional challenges. The competitive world today
has also brought about the "Knowledge Economy," which requires the effective use
of knowledge for economic and social development, and also requires skilled and
multi-oriented students with a marketable vocational sense. Therefore,
sophisticated calculations upon the value of a university degree are being made.
Graduate employability statistics are being scrutinized. Programs like resume
writing and interview skills are seen as a must. Again as I've said above, when
professional concern dominates our college education, we may lose the essence of
our educational experience.
Indeed, facing these two challenges, how can
students manage to be what the employers seek and at the same time to enjoy a
valuable, insightful and rewarding educational experience?