Maybe some of what I was writing about is being taken literally. It's true colleges aren't "teaching" independence and how to learn—that comes partly from the college experience as a whole and learning how to be an adult. But I do think certain schools and programs will teach students how to ask questions, to keep questioning, and to be critical of misinformation. This is why I am a fan of the liberal arts, despite the down trend in interest for those schools in recent years. I do think that the pendulum is swinging back, however, as we will value good writing, communication, and critical analysis skills. I think we're going to see many employers value this more and more.
It's true that as kids get older, they lose more of the why. But I also suspect it's because of the way education progresses as they get older. More skill-based learning, more rote memorization for test-taking, and less reading overall in schools.
This might be the reason for your experience with college graduates. It's a general observation I'm hearing from many. I don't know when you've experienced this, but the COVID years were so detrimental to learning and emotional growth overall. I keep hearing from my professor friends how on how much they have seen the impact of the pandemic years, and we're never getting back those years. I've also underestimated how damaging this was to my own kids.
I TOTALLY agree with your perspective on asking kids what they want to be when they grow up. Very well put. There's always this tension between defining what you care about vs. aiming for work that will support you. That's nothing new (I struggled with this myself!). I don't know how any of this plays out in this current job market though. It's almost like you have to take what you can get just to build experience?? I don't see how corporations will reverse their priority for the bottom line. As I wrote, they are too drunk with cutting costs and optimizing for efficiency. This is why this job market is so scary :(
The person being interviewed, Tehya Nakamura, said that she believes if you stop learning you start dying. She also talked about finding the joy of learning again. Now, sitting squarely in middle age, both of these statements really resonated for me. I really love your friend's take on studying things that you love, especially in the face of a precarious and unknown future. Feels like another way to turn towards the "old" ways as we continue to navigate these unprecedented times.
These middle aged years are such prime time for learning. We have to engage our brains against dementia. I know the kids will be so sick of studying and such when they’re done with school but I hope they don’t stop learning either.
So right! My son got a degree as a civil engineer in mechanics, so not him but having architect parents who have been unemployed a number of times, he wanted a “safe” education. Turned out it wasn’t…..especially when it’s not really your thing. A unplanned child and a move to another country also got in the way and now he is a cleaner/janitor at a hospital. Not what I had hoped for but - he has time for his kid, time for lots of hobbies and with his exam has learned how to get information on almost anything. And he’s happy. He is happy. ( and cleaning is vital for a hospital which we all learned under Covid so maybe they should be better paid)
I really need to hear more stories like this so thank you for sharing Lotte. And your son’s journey is more the norm now as this is what I’m hearing from my friends as well. How unlucky timing for our kids, but they will find their way.
I have a BA in English Literature (with an intense focus on Victorian literature) (1996) and an MS in Organizational Leadership that I just got in 2024. What I learned from both of these degrees, and a mother who taught college and high school English, is to question everything. Who's telling this story? Can you trust them? Are they being paid by someone? Where did they get their information? What's their motivation?
We read things every day, all day and it's so so easy just to believe what you're told because to do otherwise takes EFFORT. I think college has gotten so intense that the focus has shifted to get as much done as quickly as possible, and Get That Job.
I was fortunate that I went to a very laid back college - St. Mary's College of MD, on the water in Southern Maryland. Computers were not really a thing back then, and we got to just be and explore and do dumb things and have (disconnected from the internet because it didn't exist yet) fun. I believe that we've done everyone (everyone neurotypical and able-bodied anyway) a disservice by introducing keyboards and screens into education. We learn by using all of our senses - handwriting is SO important - it gets the information processed. It's important to be BORED and try to keep yourself awake in a class by thinking and allowing the brain to wander... that's how the big ideas emerge.
Do I think it's awesome that colleges are adding all kinds of majors that I couldn't even conceive of when I was in college? Absolutely. It even makes me a little jealous. That being said, I wouldn't trade my tech free college experience for the world.
You're right, it does take effort and this is why reading books is at such a low. People don't want to exert effort anymore. It's just so easy to be passively entertained.
I agree about handwriting notes. I am encouraged to see that my kid and many of her peers still take handwritten notes (on iPads, but still) rather than typing on a laptop because this is how information really sinks in. My younger one goes to a liberal arts college that is known to be very intense and I worry about the workload. But as is the nature of those smaller schools, the focus is on teaching and I am quite hopeful she will come out of there well prepared in literacy (at least that is what I comfort myself when that tuition bill comes around 😅).
Also, congrats to you on the recent-ish MS! I think about taking classes here and there, but I can't quite imagine doing an entire graduate program at my age. I'm not sure my brain fog could handle it!
If your kids end up literate (critical thinkers and writers), they will be far ahead of the current (general) population.
I think part of the reason we want to be passively entertained is because we are BOMBARDED with news and other information. It’s constant overload. Even the “unimportant” stuff is being processed and we just can’t handle any more effort. I haven’t watched the news since grade school, and the 24 hour news cycle didn’t exist back then. Now, things never turn off. Never. And I think that’s really hurt us, as human beings, a lot.
I read yesterday (and I wish I could remember where - thanks perimenopause!) that one day we’ll look at scrolling the same way we look at smoking. “Dude, you still scroll? That’s so bad for you!”
Going back for the MS wasn’t as hard as you’d think. Yes, it took effort, but I only took one class at a time and that was plenty. I am planning to go back for my masters in social work in the fall of 2026. At least I already know I can handle it.
What would you go back for if you decided to pursue a masters?
Super on point as I'm trying to guide my 17 year old into picking a major. I am definitely falling on the "pick what you love" side. Since I just recently got my masters at age 52, she is well aware that you might have more than one career over time. For me, going back to school has reawakened my brain. I mean, i hope to get a job, but having a mental revitalization at this age has been transformative! Especially after losing myself to motherhood over the years. Worth it.
I love to see that you and Kris above have just gotten masters degrees. Congratulations! And really inspirational! And brain fog aside, middle age after-parenting seems like such a ripe time to go back to school too. As for your 17 year old, I know many college apps want you to pick an intended major or niche down to a major-specific school if applying to a big university, but it's also ok to declare undecided! That is what my youngest did. I really do appreciate that liberal arts approach.
It doesn't matter what they major in as long as they have a plan--have them scout out internships they want to do junior year, search for job descriptions, online, potential career paths, classes they want to take, clubs they want to join, ect. So many unmotivated kids drop out of majors parents pick for them.
I think about this often, both in retrospect of my own piecemeal college and post-grad education, and what's on the horizon for our boys. I followed my interests/passions, but also while obeying my parents' insistence on walking away with 'employable skills.' It didn't work then and it's certainly not working now or soon.
What DID work for me was having learned resourcefulness, resilience and a belief in my abilities to do anything I felt enticed to do--financial return notwithstanding. While I still don't feel supported by our 'what will you be when you grow up?' culture, I continue to live and work on my own terms, not at all averse to the pivot(s)... that freedom might be the greatest advantage we can encourage in our kids. I realize there's some privilege here, but circumstances always apply even when not chosen.
I always say that the best education I had while going to art school for college was just living on my own in NYC and engaging with the neighborhood and culture around me. I mean, I don't regret my conservatory-style schooling, but it's not like it was practical or got me a job. It's what you outline here: the learned resourcefulness, the scrappiness, the willingness to experiment and try new things, fearlessly. All of that has really stayed with me.
Although my bachelor's degree is in Communications, any elective courses that I had to spare, I took English and History classes. That was really where my learning came alive and my fondness for all things historically related. I still read voraciously and feel it is even more important in today's time with other things vying for our attention.
Agreed. For a long time, whenever someone asked me what I've learned at the university, I would answer, "I learned how to learn." And, before having kids, I told people that if I had kids, they could do whatever they wanted, but they first had to get a degree, whatever it was, because the foundation of lifelong learning cannot be underestimated. Everything else you can learn after that :)
The pressure on kids to know what they want to do with their lives is intense, that they have to have it all figured out in high school so that they can then apply for a major that leads to X career—it’s so frustrating. It makes education a means to an end and less about learning to learn and think. Can you tell that I’m in the thick of it again? 🤪
I feel that the true purpose of college is to teach semi-adults how to learn without parents hovering over them, and a time a space to work towards being full adults. Half of the people I know who went to college and got a degree ended up in a job that was completely unrelated to their degree. Sometimes it was by choice, and sometimes it was a choice made for them. It always felt like what you studied in college didn't matter as much as the friendships (i.e. future networking) and the internships or jobs you had while you were in college that mattered because those were the things that really determined where you would go after college.
I went back to school at 40 to get a degree in graphic design, which I loved and appreciated so much more than when I got my first degree back in my 20's. It felt so so good to be challenged, and to be learning something new again.
Yes, one thing I didn't touch on is how college is also a time to learn independence and how to adult. Back when we were kids, it really didn't matter because entry level jobs still existed. The reason it's so pressure-filled now is that this jobs seem so few and far between when entry level jobs now mean they want years of experience. It's all so discouraging.
I feel like we should all aim to pick up skills, no matter the degree or area of focus we study in because you’re right, what you study in may not become your career. And a lot of skills are transferable. Loved reading your thoughts on this as I raise my elementary school age kids. (Also, designer chairs - there’s a budget for that!!)
A lot of skills are transferable, it's true. It's been hard guiding my youngest as she solidifies her major choice her second year. Hopefully things will settle a bit by the time your own kids are college-aged. We're in this really weird transitional time that has huge implications for every part of our lives. It's even bigger than the computer age, I think. More like a second industrial revolution. So much of it is unknown and the job market is reacting.
I've had this thought rattling around for a few months -- It feels like there are a few distinct reasons people can choose to go to college. It probably benefits everyone if students clarify their reason before deciding where to go, what to study, or even if they *should* do college. Curious to get your thoughts on it:
1. Prep for graduate school for a licensed profession (Pharmacy, Medicine, Law, etc.)
2. Prep for research in graduate school (PhD).
3. Learn more overall in a well-rounded way (sounds like this is what you're referring to when "learning just to learn").
4. Get a better job or better career progression.
In a perfect world, every student at every school could do more than one of those bullet points. But given how differently each school approaches education (majors offered, labs available, financial aid available, focus on learning vs. social life, etc.), I lean towards encouraging young people to decide their priorities before anything else.
I think few kids can clarify what they want in college at that age.
There are always going to be those who know they want to pursue careers like medicine and law, but even then some percentage will get weeded out (law doesn't have prerequisites like pre-med however) or they might change their mind.
Pursuing research, I think, is something kids might develop an interest in as they progress in their studies—I don't think many kids go into school knowing what they want to research. And research opportunities in school may inform that interest.
I'm going to jump to #4 first because it's easier to answer. Yes, getting a college degree will help in job and career search, but it's not a guarantee. It never was, but these days it's even less of a guarantee. All the more reason to make sure kids/families don't go into debt or choose a college they can't afford. It's become so cost-prohibitive.
#3 is more a general philosophy of education. I think it's possible to go through college and NOT "learn how to learn." Especially as it pertains to degrees that are more pre-professional or huge classes that are taught by TAs. I think that is one advantage of the smaller liberal arts colleges where undergraduate teaching is the focus.
Honestly, so much is uncertain that nobody no longer knows what the best approach to a college education is and everyone has their own opinions! Lots of people think a degree in the humanities is a waste, some think that trades are the answer right now, some think that only majors with obvious and direct pathways to jobs is the only way college is worth it. But nobody knows. We're in uncharted territory here in regards to automation and AI not to mention the current political climate which has sort of crippled a certain sector of jobs in what my oldest kid is getting a degree in.
But yes, in a perfect world, students would have some priorities before families spend enormous amounts of money on tuition (and that is the only reason I would say that, for the financial part), but even if you do have goals and ideas, priorities and interests change. As they should! As I mentioned, this is a messy time. Young people should explore. I know my own kids' college experience has been more non-linear and more exploratory than any of us would have thought going in.
Thank you for this hopeful piece, Jenna! I'm sure your kids will land well on their feet, no matter which way they go next.
My daughter is about to start college next year, and she's hell-bent on following in mama's footsteps and study English lit.
It takes a lot of willpower to bite my tongue and not begin to list all the jobs that'll go extinct soon because of AI. I don't want to ruin her dream, but the worry is real.
Oh, but I don't think it will!! In fact, I (just my opinion) do think the humanities will become more valuable (again) than some of the skills-based, pre-professional programs and major. I think English lit majors will do fine and in reality, I feel like there are only really half a dozen majors that have direct pathways to careers at this point.
Architecture is a notoriously abusive education, so your post reminds me of the joy after college that I only had to work 40 hours a week IRL! It was a great experience (trauma aside) and I learned a lot, but I loved all the free time to study whatever caught my fancy when I got out of college.
I love the length! Never apologize for that!
Maybe some of what I was writing about is being taken literally. It's true colleges aren't "teaching" independence and how to learn—that comes partly from the college experience as a whole and learning how to be an adult. But I do think certain schools and programs will teach students how to ask questions, to keep questioning, and to be critical of misinformation. This is why I am a fan of the liberal arts, despite the down trend in interest for those schools in recent years. I do think that the pendulum is swinging back, however, as we will value good writing, communication, and critical analysis skills. I think we're going to see many employers value this more and more.
It's true that as kids get older, they lose more of the why. But I also suspect it's because of the way education progresses as they get older. More skill-based learning, more rote memorization for test-taking, and less reading overall in schools.
This might be the reason for your experience with college graduates. It's a general observation I'm hearing from many. I don't know when you've experienced this, but the COVID years were so detrimental to learning and emotional growth overall. I keep hearing from my professor friends how on how much they have seen the impact of the pandemic years, and we're never getting back those years. I've also underestimated how damaging this was to my own kids.
I TOTALLY agree with your perspective on asking kids what they want to be when they grow up. Very well put. There's always this tension between defining what you care about vs. aiming for work that will support you. That's nothing new (I struggled with this myself!). I don't know how any of this plays out in this current job market though. It's almost like you have to take what you can get just to build experience?? I don't see how corporations will reverse their priority for the bottom line. As I wrote, they are too drunk with cutting costs and optimizing for efficiency. This is why this job market is so scary :(
Oh, this is so timely. I heard this on the radio on my way to picking up the kids yesterday, about developing your own personal curriculum :
https://knpr.org/2025-11-11/want-to-be-a-lifelong-learner-try-a-personal-curriculum
The person being interviewed, Tehya Nakamura, said that she believes if you stop learning you start dying. She also talked about finding the joy of learning again. Now, sitting squarely in middle age, both of these statements really resonated for me. I really love your friend's take on studying things that you love, especially in the face of a precarious and unknown future. Feels like another way to turn towards the "old" ways as we continue to navigate these unprecedented times.
These middle aged years are such prime time for learning. We have to engage our brains against dementia. I know the kids will be so sick of studying and such when they’re done with school but I hope they don’t stop learning either.
So right! My son got a degree as a civil engineer in mechanics, so not him but having architect parents who have been unemployed a number of times, he wanted a “safe” education. Turned out it wasn’t…..especially when it’s not really your thing. A unplanned child and a move to another country also got in the way and now he is a cleaner/janitor at a hospital. Not what I had hoped for but - he has time for his kid, time for lots of hobbies and with his exam has learned how to get information on almost anything. And he’s happy. He is happy. ( and cleaning is vital for a hospital which we all learned under Covid so maybe they should be better paid)
I really need to hear more stories like this so thank you for sharing Lotte. And your son’s journey is more the norm now as this is what I’m hearing from my friends as well. How unlucky timing for our kids, but they will find their way.
I have a BA in English Literature (with an intense focus on Victorian literature) (1996) and an MS in Organizational Leadership that I just got in 2024. What I learned from both of these degrees, and a mother who taught college and high school English, is to question everything. Who's telling this story? Can you trust them? Are they being paid by someone? Where did they get their information? What's their motivation?
We read things every day, all day and it's so so easy just to believe what you're told because to do otherwise takes EFFORT. I think college has gotten so intense that the focus has shifted to get as much done as quickly as possible, and Get That Job.
I was fortunate that I went to a very laid back college - St. Mary's College of MD, on the water in Southern Maryland. Computers were not really a thing back then, and we got to just be and explore and do dumb things and have (disconnected from the internet because it didn't exist yet) fun. I believe that we've done everyone (everyone neurotypical and able-bodied anyway) a disservice by introducing keyboards and screens into education. We learn by using all of our senses - handwriting is SO important - it gets the information processed. It's important to be BORED and try to keep yourself awake in a class by thinking and allowing the brain to wander... that's how the big ideas emerge.
Do I think it's awesome that colleges are adding all kinds of majors that I couldn't even conceive of when I was in college? Absolutely. It even makes me a little jealous. That being said, I wouldn't trade my tech free college experience for the world.
You're right, it does take effort and this is why reading books is at such a low. People don't want to exert effort anymore. It's just so easy to be passively entertained.
I agree about handwriting notes. I am encouraged to see that my kid and many of her peers still take handwritten notes (on iPads, but still) rather than typing on a laptop because this is how information really sinks in. My younger one goes to a liberal arts college that is known to be very intense and I worry about the workload. But as is the nature of those smaller schools, the focus is on teaching and I am quite hopeful she will come out of there well prepared in literacy (at least that is what I comfort myself when that tuition bill comes around 😅).
Also, congrats to you on the recent-ish MS! I think about taking classes here and there, but I can't quite imagine doing an entire graduate program at my age. I'm not sure my brain fog could handle it!
If your kids end up literate (critical thinkers and writers), they will be far ahead of the current (general) population.
I think part of the reason we want to be passively entertained is because we are BOMBARDED with news and other information. It’s constant overload. Even the “unimportant” stuff is being processed and we just can’t handle any more effort. I haven’t watched the news since grade school, and the 24 hour news cycle didn’t exist back then. Now, things never turn off. Never. And I think that’s really hurt us, as human beings, a lot.
I read yesterday (and I wish I could remember where - thanks perimenopause!) that one day we’ll look at scrolling the same way we look at smoking. “Dude, you still scroll? That’s so bad for you!”
Going back for the MS wasn’t as hard as you’d think. Yes, it took effort, but I only took one class at a time and that was plenty. I am planning to go back for my masters in social work in the fall of 2026. At least I already know I can handle it.
What would you go back for if you decided to pursue a masters?
Super on point as I'm trying to guide my 17 year old into picking a major. I am definitely falling on the "pick what you love" side. Since I just recently got my masters at age 52, she is well aware that you might have more than one career over time. For me, going back to school has reawakened my brain. I mean, i hope to get a job, but having a mental revitalization at this age has been transformative! Especially after losing myself to motherhood over the years. Worth it.
I love to see that you and Kris above have just gotten masters degrees. Congratulations! And really inspirational! And brain fog aside, middle age after-parenting seems like such a ripe time to go back to school too. As for your 17 year old, I know many college apps want you to pick an intended major or niche down to a major-specific school if applying to a big university, but it's also ok to declare undecided! That is what my youngest did. I really do appreciate that liberal arts approach.
It doesn't matter what they major in as long as they have a plan--have them scout out internships they want to do junior year, search for job descriptions, online, potential career paths, classes they want to take, clubs they want to join, ect. So many unmotivated kids drop out of majors parents pick for them.
My kids are/have been doing this and I tell you, it's been a slog. So much ghosting and non replies. Yet what can they do but keep going....
Yeah its super rough.
I think about this often, both in retrospect of my own piecemeal college and post-grad education, and what's on the horizon for our boys. I followed my interests/passions, but also while obeying my parents' insistence on walking away with 'employable skills.' It didn't work then and it's certainly not working now or soon.
What DID work for me was having learned resourcefulness, resilience and a belief in my abilities to do anything I felt enticed to do--financial return notwithstanding. While I still don't feel supported by our 'what will you be when you grow up?' culture, I continue to live and work on my own terms, not at all averse to the pivot(s)... that freedom might be the greatest advantage we can encourage in our kids. I realize there's some privilege here, but circumstances always apply even when not chosen.
PS, read Duane Toops' post from this morning (as I just did)... the connection is some solid chaos magic!!
https://open.substack.com/pub/duanetoops/p/two-things?r=18i7qw&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
Oh yeah, super relevant!
I always say that the best education I had while going to art school for college was just living on my own in NYC and engaging with the neighborhood and culture around me. I mean, I don't regret my conservatory-style schooling, but it's not like it was practical or got me a job. It's what you outline here: the learned resourcefulness, the scrappiness, the willingness to experiment and try new things, fearlessly. All of that has really stayed with me.
Although my bachelor's degree is in Communications, any elective courses that I had to spare, I took English and History classes. That was really where my learning came alive and my fondness for all things historically related. I still read voraciously and feel it is even more important in today's time with other things vying for our attention.
I'm sure that your love of reading is rooted from those English and History classes ☺️
Agreed. For a long time, whenever someone asked me what I've learned at the university, I would answer, "I learned how to learn." And, before having kids, I told people that if I had kids, they could do whatever they wanted, but they first had to get a degree, whatever it was, because the foundation of lifelong learning cannot be underestimated. Everything else you can learn after that :)
I wish we can go back to that more. When college is so job-focused we lose so much of that sentiment.
The pressure on kids to know what they want to do with their lives is intense, that they have to have it all figured out in high school so that they can then apply for a major that leads to X career—it’s so frustrating. It makes education a means to an end and less about learning to learn and think. Can you tell that I’m in the thick of it again? 🤪
I feel like we've gone too far on the whole pre-professional education. Going in undecided is ok!
I feel that the true purpose of college is to teach semi-adults how to learn without parents hovering over them, and a time a space to work towards being full adults. Half of the people I know who went to college and got a degree ended up in a job that was completely unrelated to their degree. Sometimes it was by choice, and sometimes it was a choice made for them. It always felt like what you studied in college didn't matter as much as the friendships (i.e. future networking) and the internships or jobs you had while you were in college that mattered because those were the things that really determined where you would go after college.
I went back to school at 40 to get a degree in graphic design, which I loved and appreciated so much more than when I got my first degree back in my 20's. It felt so so good to be challenged, and to be learning something new again.
Yes, one thing I didn't touch on is how college is also a time to learn independence and how to adult. Back when we were kids, it really didn't matter because entry level jobs still existed. The reason it's so pressure-filled now is that this jobs seem so few and far between when entry level jobs now mean they want years of experience. It's all so discouraging.
Those last two paragraphs were so striking to me that I had to quote you in my commonplace journal.
🥰
I feel like we should all aim to pick up skills, no matter the degree or area of focus we study in because you’re right, what you study in may not become your career. And a lot of skills are transferable. Loved reading your thoughts on this as I raise my elementary school age kids. (Also, designer chairs - there’s a budget for that!!)
A lot of skills are transferable, it's true. It's been hard guiding my youngest as she solidifies her major choice her second year. Hopefully things will settle a bit by the time your own kids are college-aged. We're in this really weird transitional time that has huge implications for every part of our lives. It's even bigger than the computer age, I think. More like a second industrial revolution. So much of it is unknown and the job market is reacting.
Thanks for sharing, and great photos!
I've had this thought rattling around for a few months -- It feels like there are a few distinct reasons people can choose to go to college. It probably benefits everyone if students clarify their reason before deciding where to go, what to study, or even if they *should* do college. Curious to get your thoughts on it:
1. Prep for graduate school for a licensed profession (Pharmacy, Medicine, Law, etc.)
2. Prep for research in graduate school (PhD).
3. Learn more overall in a well-rounded way (sounds like this is what you're referring to when "learning just to learn").
4. Get a better job or better career progression.
In a perfect world, every student at every school could do more than one of those bullet points. But given how differently each school approaches education (majors offered, labs available, financial aid available, focus on learning vs. social life, etc.), I lean towards encouraging young people to decide their priorities before anything else.
What do you think?
I think few kids can clarify what they want in college at that age.
There are always going to be those who know they want to pursue careers like medicine and law, but even then some percentage will get weeded out (law doesn't have prerequisites like pre-med however) or they might change their mind.
Pursuing research, I think, is something kids might develop an interest in as they progress in their studies—I don't think many kids go into school knowing what they want to research. And research opportunities in school may inform that interest.
I'm going to jump to #4 first because it's easier to answer. Yes, getting a college degree will help in job and career search, but it's not a guarantee. It never was, but these days it's even less of a guarantee. All the more reason to make sure kids/families don't go into debt or choose a college they can't afford. It's become so cost-prohibitive.
#3 is more a general philosophy of education. I think it's possible to go through college and NOT "learn how to learn." Especially as it pertains to degrees that are more pre-professional or huge classes that are taught by TAs. I think that is one advantage of the smaller liberal arts colleges where undergraduate teaching is the focus.
Honestly, so much is uncertain that nobody no longer knows what the best approach to a college education is and everyone has their own opinions! Lots of people think a degree in the humanities is a waste, some think that trades are the answer right now, some think that only majors with obvious and direct pathways to jobs is the only way college is worth it. But nobody knows. We're in uncharted territory here in regards to automation and AI not to mention the current political climate which has sort of crippled a certain sector of jobs in what my oldest kid is getting a degree in.
But yes, in a perfect world, students would have some priorities before families spend enormous amounts of money on tuition (and that is the only reason I would say that, for the financial part), but even if you do have goals and ideas, priorities and interests change. As they should! As I mentioned, this is a messy time. Young people should explore. I know my own kids' college experience has been more non-linear and more exploratory than any of us would have thought going in.
Well ... this is just too apropos and timely not to share here: Neil deGrasse Tyson speaking on the same subject! ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2C-Hy9NFbEE
Thanks! Will watch this later!
Thank you for this hopeful piece, Jenna! I'm sure your kids will land well on their feet, no matter which way they go next.
My daughter is about to start college next year, and she's hell-bent on following in mama's footsteps and study English lit.
It takes a lot of willpower to bite my tongue and not begin to list all the jobs that'll go extinct soon because of AI. I don't want to ruin her dream, but the worry is real.
Oh, but I don't think it will!! In fact, I (just my opinion) do think the humanities will become more valuable (again) than some of the skills-based, pre-professional programs and major. I think English lit majors will do fine and in reality, I feel like there are only really half a dozen majors that have direct pathways to careers at this point.
Architecture is a notoriously abusive education, so your post reminds me of the joy after college that I only had to work 40 hours a week IRL! It was a great experience (trauma aside) and I learned a lot, but I loved all the free time to study whatever caught my fancy when I got out of college.
I have a feeling my kids can relate to this right now 😅