Alison Mackie, Staff Writer 

Are you aware of the ever-branching pathway of education that unfolds at your feet in an elementary school playground and eventually winds into a satisfying career? Don’t answer. Let me. No, you are not aware of any such pathway. It doesn’t exist. Instead, society has managed to pave a two-lane educational road with exits only for people driving Jaguars, Mercedes, etc. Allow me to translate. 

The road I am referring to is the 12 levels of school preceding graduation which are then ideally followed up with a varying number of years in college. The top of the line cars do not represent people in the highest economic bracket. They are the small percentage who prove to be exceptionally gifted in some area such as a particular art form or scientific field. These folks are omitted from this linear chain of events and absorbed by society to share their wisdom or talent. So, if you’re not Einstein material or ready to perform in Carnegie Hall, you could always join a branch of the military. If army green just isn’t your color, then I guess you’re stuck like Chuck on this road with the rest of us. 

Understand that I insist on adding my personal slant to this subject. In the same breath, I will say that any discussion on education should be a patchwork of opinions. I intend on including ideas that people have shared with me. The fact that college experience, obtaining a degree, and finding work has a different value for each of us is precisely my point. 

College education has transformed into something as mainstream and available to people as macaroni and cheese. It has become the trendiest of trends in America as the requirements concerning financial status, ethnic origin and sometimes scholastic ability of applicants have become less imperative to acceptance. The idea of obtaining an education above and beyond that of a high school diploma is drilled into the minds of young Americans by teachers, parents, government officials, and leaders of the corporate world. The notion that a college degree is prestigious and necessary is rarely disputed. 

I, too, am a member of this team that so strongly advocates college education. I believe knowledge makes a person able, wise, complete and hopefully skillful. 

Well, I’ve reamed that college isn’t a box of Cracker Jacks for everyone. Some serious disadvantages of the nouveaux college era have been brought to my attention. 

One student, discussing the expansion of the college-bound crowd, mentioned the particular disadvantage of the “invasion of the C student.” Let me brief you on this theory. The concern is that as universities increase enrollment, they, in turn, lower academic standards. The obvious fear is that professors may feel obligated to teach down to these average Joes, thus hindering the more advanced student. 

As I listened to this student vent, I realized I was probably the enemy. I typically find my courses to be challenging. 

Another student, on the brink of graduation, described a college degree as much too generic to instill the skill for a specific career. Grad school seemed to be the common nightmare haunting the upper classmen who agreed with this opinion. 

Trade school equivalent to those in foreign countries is an idea tossed around by students searching for alternatives to college. The concept is to establish schools that train people who are talented in certain fields for a specific jobs such as engineering. This ensures a skill for a job while eliminating the general studies that some find a tedious waste. 

There are, of course, many students who are completely suited by college life and its results. These people describe college as sort of a halfway house into the real world. They are content with gaining general knowledge as well as becoming educated in the field of their choice. 

I personally love the college experience and am thankful that the opportunity reaches almost anyone who desires to be a part of it. I need the aspect of college that aids in finding my own groove in life. 

I am afraid that the emphasis placed on college shadows the reality that different people need different guides into the future. College has become the 21st century’s remedy for intolerance, unemployment, cultural awareness and economic stability, to name a few. Although it is a respectable movement that has made a positive sweep across our nation, it is time for some new outlets.