Taking notes on other countries

There’s a reason why Finland has been on the top step regarding educational systems fro years and the U.S remains dead last. I believe the methods used have become so traditional that Americans just refuse to change it. Now this is not a fact it is just what I presume. Maybe, if we start accumulating ideas from countries with a top education system and putting these ideas to use, the U.S would most likely see positive results in the upcoming years.

The added benefits of a degree

Many individuals tend to say that a college degree is useless and most of the information can be self-taught through google and or YouTube, but there are benefits that are constantly overlooked which need to be brought to light. The idea that higher education is simply a means to get a higher paying job, while true, does nothing to motivate students to attend. The real benefits is the increase in self-reliance, responsibility, and the ability to try new things. This obviously comes down to how motivated a student is to begin with, but preaching these benefits rather than the basic excuse is not doing anything other than hurting the potential of students all across the country.

College degree not being sought after

Throughout the last few decades we have seen the average cost of higher education increase tremendously. There is a correlation seen that when education costs increase, the dive to seek higher education decreases, however obtaining a bachelor’s and associate’s degree still end up outweighing the expensive costs. Many ideas have come forward in regard to this issue, the most common one being to offer education in the same manner as many European countries do it. There are many implications to that sought after idea, but it has the right idea which is that higher education is becoming exceedingly expensive. While this is in regard to expenses, there are other issues in the system which causes students to not finish their college career, these include being disappointed with the reality of college, issues with adjusting, and are not prepared for the coursework. So with this said, I believe it is important to also say that this is all subjective, there is no objectivism when it comes to the importance of a college degree, individuals perceive importance by taking into account multiple different factors. Anyways, I am curious to see if anyone relates to this thread, would love to hear what factors you feel are important to focus on, and if you truly believe a college degree is all it is meant to be.

Hmmmm

The dilemma between requiring students to take certain courses and just letting students take charge of their own education- choosing their own classes without “restrictions- have become a big debate in the educational department. Personally, I believe that there are certain classes, like financial planning and mental health education, that should be taught to college students. These skills that they learn in these classes can and will become beneficial to them in the long run.

Required Courses

I have talked with many individuals about the purpose of required courses, it is split evenly about the importance of them. personally, I believe that required courses help students to try a wide range of different subjects to find the right fit that meets an individuals personal passions align with, but I feel required courses just makes the educational process extremely tedious, especially once a student reaches college as they have a general idea about what their interests are.

This may be an unpopular opinion, but I would love to hear your thoughts on required courses.

Ignorance is a sweet poison. Knowledge is the bitter cure

Ever think back to the time you were but a wee lad or lass who cared nothing about the struggles of the world besides getting the latest toys, watching the latest cartoons and playing with your classmates. Makes you feel old doesn’t it? But then you remember how…”less knowledgeable” you were in those times, i mean long division still brings shivers to the spines of certain people, the mere thought of your 7 year old self struggling with addition and subtraction makes you cringe. As you get older you get wiser; you begin to comprehend the inner working of he world, selfishness, dishonesty, corruption; you become jaded to the world and its ugliness. Eventually you are fully exposed to them and it makes you wonder if you could ever go back to those simpler times.

We might want to escape sometimes into the world of oblivion; that is alright everybody needs a breather from reality every once in a while. When things get too frustrating we don’t want to think. While it may seem like a curse, it is a necessary one. Without the thirst for knowledge we are left to believe everything that we are told, accepting without engaging.

We have seen what ignorance is capable of causing in our society, there is no way that something like what happened on January 6th would have happened if the participants had been passive knowledge seekers. Of course there are many other factors that contributed, but my point is that while those simpler times were enjoyable, we were never meant to be left in the dark for the entirety of our lives, we are supposed to get out there and learn, and make our own choices about certain matters.

ps. sorry if this was a bit ramble

Ten Things Americans Should Know

Here is the list I came up with for what Americans should know to have cultural literacy. Does anyone agree with me or have any replacements?

Slavery/civil war

American Football

Constitution 

COVID

President 

4th of July

World wars 

States (geographically)

Voting 

MLK