Y tu?

So, I'm sitting in my econ class on the first day, and Bricker (teacher) tells us that his goal, by the end of the class, is for us to see and recognize false reports by the media.

His example, the nightly news warns of a depression because we're in a recession. Actually, people, we're NOT. A recession is defined as two consecutive quarters where there is negative GDP...we haven't had that...yet.

I knew that. Duh. I yell at the tv everytime I watch the news because they always say that. SHUT UP. We're CLOSE to a recession, YES, and depression...a little more far off. But still. STOP IT.

So, I'm sitting in my health class on the first day, and DeWeese says "My goal at the end of this term is for you to be able to read 'Mens Health' or 'anotherfitnessmagazinethatIcan'trememberthenameofnow', and be able to say 'that diet plan's shit' or 'that's not what that means'"

Also, in my stats class last semester, Dr. Hartsfield said the same thing.

My question: If all college classes (or most) are trying to disspell rumors/wrong facts in the media...wouldn't the media get better at reporting, because every year thousands of people enter the media in new positions, from college. Is no one learning in college? Or is the business SO corrupted (for lack of a better word) that all of these new faces and educations cannot change it?

Now, I know that not every class offers this goal, and the fact that I had three classes, very close together is the reason this question came up. But, if you think about it...a lot of classes have the ability to teach a person to THINK when watching tv, reading magazines, etc., not just take what Ryan Seacrest says for face value.

Does this make any sense?

As weird as it sounds, I have just began to truely value my education. In the summer of 2005, I was taking classes at Surry and I had Micro Economics with Amber (my future sister-in-law), and we had to do a problem about something we could no live without. Something we LOVED and there were no substitutions for us. I wrote about Peach Yogurt, because it was my favorite at the time.

Amber wrote about her education. She said it was invaluable to her. I could see what she was saying but I didn't grasp the message behind it. I didn't understand what she was SAYING. I took it for face value.

I have reached a point in my life and collegiate career where I finally GET IT. I may not know what I want to do with my life, but I know that college is the only way to get there. Now, I don't think that EVERYONE should go to college, go if you want. But I know that if I weren't in college, I would be working a minimum wage job, living paycheck to paycheck, miserable.

After college, I may not get a GREAT JOB, but maybe I'll get one I can tolerate and can work from there, figure myself out, know where I'm going, and more importantly, where I've been.

Where does this all tie in? I used to just want to come to college, have fun at parties, drink, and get through classes. And, I'm not going to lie, looking at the classes I have to take soon, I just want to get though some of them, too. But I want to get something out of it. What's the point of spending $40,000 + on an education, if all you have is a piece of paper hanging on the wall, and a brain full of nightly news?

Maybe this was just for me to think on, but maybe you can get something out of my rambling, too.

Ohh, and I'm sure I'm going to write a post in a while that completely contradicts this post. Yeah.