james.soriano

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PUBLISHED: Student & Campus Section, Manila Bulletin, 17 September 2008 Issue (Page F-4)

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A lot of us enter college dreaming of big things for ourselves.

During the first few weeks of school, it was not uncommon to hear people say that they’re going to average an uno or a quatro (whichever applies), or at least make the Dean’s List, this first semester. I guess there’s just something about the whole situation that makes us believe that we’re up to the challenges it poses. But maybe that’s a good thing, if it motivates us to give it our best.

Now that we’re nearing the end, though, the mood is strikingly different. A lot of my peers have given up on the possibility of an academically flawless first semester, or on making the Dean’s List, for that matter. I guess there’s just something about the whole situation that puts us in our place. Whatever the reason, the fact is that we don’t get the grades that we expected.

But the good thing about the college system is that your grade isn’t the only thing that matters. This, I presume, is the reason why the upperclassmen keep saying that you should be active in orgs, because orgs will give you the experience as well as the opportunities when you start out. They often tell stories of people who didn’t necessarily graduate with honors, but were very much involved in org work, which is why they’re doing okay right now.

Besides, as one of my professors put very eloquently, college is really all about the lessons you learn and the skills you pick up, which aren’t necessarily reflected by your grades. Grades measure your output, but they do not always truly measure the kind of person you are, or the amount of knowledge you have gained.

At this point, there is a lot of consolation about not doing very well academically in college. After all, grades aren’t everything. We shouldn’t be so hard on ourselves for not getting the marks we want to get. Instead, we should just enjoy learning for learning’s sake.

I agree—except it’s really not that simple.

For one thing, it’s still one of the first things that potential employers look at when they view your resume. This, actually, has some logical basis: grades are the most objective measures of your ability to produce output. In a way, therefore, they are a reliable measure of your work ethic. True, grades don’t always reflect your true mettle, but your true mettle won’t be worth anything if it can’t earn you a decent living.

Second, first-class grades are pretty much a prerequisite to getting first-class opportunities, and by that I mean you have to be one of the very best, if not the very best. After all, these opportunities go a very long way; you could be starting at a position which most other people would take years to even reach. If you think about it in terms of the money you earn or the time you save, that is quite a significant advantage. It is an advantage that org involvement won’t often be able to give you.

It is at this point that you realize how much a semester really matters. Education is a game of grade-point averages, and college is no different; the only thing that matters is your average at the end. Therefore, the goal is to keep your GPA consistently high. If you spread that out over the whole course of your college life, which is around eight semesters for most people, you’ll realize that one or two near-failing marks in one semester can easily destroy your bid for summa cum laude, and that semester is something you can never get back.

That is precisely why first semester can be so frustrating. If you slipped up, then you’ll just have to live with it. Also, it doesn’t get any easier from here. If you weren’t able to exploit it, then you’ll just have to work harder the rest of the way—all for a piece of paper that supposedly estimates your worth in the job market.

Maybe it’s unfair, but the fact of the matter is this:

Grades do matter.

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PUBLISHED: Student & Campus Section, Manila Bulletin, 21 August 2008 Issue (page F-4)

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I was taking a leak before going to English class last Wednesday when I overheard two of my batchmates talking about school. They seemed rather stressed, and understandably so; it’s midterms season. I wasn’t really listening to them, but I did hear one part of the conversation that struck me. It went something like this:

“Why do we even have to take up Math, anyway? It’s not like we’ll need to factor quadratic equations when we start working!”

“Yeah nga e! It’s not like I need to balance chemical equations when I’m already in media!”

Of course, we all know that’s not the point. We study math, science and language not because we are supposed to remember every single detail. Rather, we take them as a form of mental training, and your course determines which areas you are trained in. Of course, there are some subjects whose basis for being taken up may seem questionable, but that’s disputable.

Then again, I think the query makes sense in a different way. If you boil down the reasoning behind it to its simplest form, the question simply asks, “What’s the point?”—which means that probably, the point is being missed. On one hand, perhaps it is the wrong question to ask, since factoring is obviously not the point of a college education, but on the other hand, it’s also right.

Why do we work so hard to attain degrees that will only matter when we start working—if they will matter at all? And considering how college has become something of a necessity in starting a decent career, has the system of education failed in some way?

Nowadays, it seems like there are only two kinds of people who get the jobs that they want. The first are the people who have studied and graduated abroad; the second are the people who come from prestigious local universities. For these people, college has done its part.

This leaves out everyone else who comes from lesser-known institutions, as well as those who never went to or finished college. They constitute a majority of the workforce. The sad part is, they often don’t land the jobs they should be in. You could graduate as a Science or a Business major and still end up as a minimum-wage earner.

Of course, it can be argued that a large part of what makes a person successful in a career is his or her drive and determination. There are people, after all, who go into jobs that don’t fit their course descriptions and still end up successful. College can only go so far when it comes to equipping students with the tools that they need, in a world whose demands are constantly changing. I agree.

Then again, perhaps there is a need to re-examine our approach when it comes to education.

For one thing, I’m not sure it makes sense for our colleges to go with the flow when it comes to the labor market—that’s the reason why virtually every college seems to offer a Nursing course these days. While we supply whatever job is in demand around the world, we do so at the expense of other professions, and we often end up with an oversupply.

Another area which needs re-examining is the philosophy behind education. In our country, the mindset of most people coming out of college is to land a stable job and slowly work your way up. Perhaps we need to encourage students to start out on their own, instead of focusing on just getting employed.

It can even go as far down as the amount of knowledge that is being fed to the minds of students. Is it really necessary to go through all that tedium? Perhaps curricula can be adjusted so that there’s less pressure, which might result in better learning. Interestingly enough, people who study in universities abroad often have lighter loads than the ones who study here.

Nonetheless, while we can argue about how college education should be, the more important thing is still to make the most out of it. This means different things to different people, but the important thing is to learn to be flexible and adaptable.

And that means realizing that learning goes on and on and on, even after college.