Thursday, October 29, 1998
System rewards regurgitation, not imagination
EDUCATION: While you
sell your soul for grades, safeguard your identity
The longer I’m in college, the more I think that true intellect
is dead. Ironically, the assassin is our formal education
system.
As I embarked upon the university experience, I had visions of
entering some great bastion of individualism and creativity. I
envisioned myself engaged in philosophical debates and late-night
beatnik poetry readings. Instead, I found that I was not much more
than a nine-digit identification number.
College is part of a larger social system that aims to reward
conformity and punish individualism.
I first came to this glum revelation as I sat in my 300-person
philosophy class last year. It was a sweltering spring in Haines
39, and for once everyone was present due to the impending midterm.
We anxiously awaited the professor’s words of enlightenment. He
provided the following: "For those of you who complain that college
is nothing but regurgitation, that’s exactly what I want you to do.
Repeat what I tell you, there is no room for creativity on this
exam."
There was a momentary hush followed by nervous laughter. It
wasn’t that this concept of regurgitation was anything new to us,
it was that he said it so nonchalantly. In doing so, he clearly
acknowledged that we, the supposed leaders and independent thinkers
of tomorrow, had been reduced to the status of trained parrots.
The irony of course is that this occurred in a philosophy class,
perhaps one of the only general education classes, in which one can
express any opinion whatsoever. Sadly, he had no interest in our
thoughts or opinions. His way was the only way, and we lowly
undergrads had no voice other than that which he imposed on us.
I had the same daunting experience in a poetry class. The
teaching assistant had a staunch idea of what each poem meant. Her
interpretation was right, and anyone who dissented was wrong. I
ended up rewriting an essay four times in an attempt for her
approval. I finally turned it in as it was and decided to stand by
my ideas. It was at that point that I decided an "A" for
regurgitation was worth much less than a "B" for individuality.
This leads me to the topic of grades. As college students, we
have a love-hate relationship with the grading system. Basically,
we have been taught that our worth is determined by them. But
people who get straight A’s are not necessarily the brightest, nor
are people who flunk the least intelligent.
The people with A’s merely have better study skills. Overall,
they have better assimilated to the system’s expectations, those
which tell us that intelligence parallels repetition of accumulated
facts.
But where will we be in five years when all our memorized facts
are forgotten? We’ll be left in a place where we have to start
formulating opinions of our own, a skill that is not fostered in
the system.
True intellect cannot be captured by the grading scale.
There are no A’s, F’s, or scantrons in the real world. True
intellect is twofold. First, it is the ability to articulate
insightful opinions regardless of how "mainstream" they may be. The
most brilliant person of all is the independent thinker who dares
to challenge the status quo.
Part of cultivating intellect is facing adversity, as most great
thinkers have. In the immortal words of Albert Einstein, "Great
spirits have always met violent opposition from mediocre
minds."
Second, true intellect is the ability to think on your own
without a professor, scholar or highlighted book holding your hand.
Real life is not as black and white as college academics.
Lastly, true intelligence is present in all realms of life.
Unlike what the system’s intellectual snobs would have you believe,
the classroom is not the end all for intellect. In fact, it often
stifles it.
Some of the most brilliant people in history and present day
never had formal education. As such, they remained unfettered and
unbiased by academia. Many types of intelligence go unrewarded and
unacknowledged by the system. There are great talents in the arts,
music and dance to name a few. There are people who are street
smart, tactical geniuses and virtuosos. And let us not forget the
most important form of intelligence  common sense.
Let me leave you with one parting thought: where is our
conformity leading us? I for one don’t want to end up in a cubicle
working from 9 to 5 at a job I hate. I want to dedicate my life to
something that feeds my soul and mind. I want to find a profession
I’m passionate about  one that fosters creativity and
independent thought.
The first step to happiness is finding a facet in school that
makes you passionate. There is no denying that school is necessary
to "succeed" in the system  that’s why we’re all here. But
while we’re here, it’s our responsibility to find a channel for the
creativity that is all too often stifled in the classroom.
If we find that passion now, it is probable that this drive will
accompany us for the rest of our lives.
In the past year, I’ve learned that to succeed in the system,
certain compromises must be made. But it is up to each one of us
how much we compromise and at what cost.Alicia Roca
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