A Higher Education

 I had two brushes with higher education this month.

An undergraduate I know, a management student at the University of the West Indies, said that I should blog about why it takes so long for young graduates to find a job. “It’s like a double edged sword,” she griped. “Employers tell us that they want experience but how can we get that if they don’t hire us?”

It’s a familiar tale so I was happy to share a sure recipe. “You need to discover a small company, tell the CEO how good you are, that you’re willing to make the coffee and run errands as long as you get an opportunity to gain practical, hands on knowledge.” I shared my experience in Boston where I worked at a New England TV affiliate by fetching, carrying and emptying. At nights or weekends though, when the studio emptied, I stayed behind and with the assistance of a generous production manager, I learned to edit, produce and direct. One year later I won a NECTA award for a lifestyle programme I produced with my college classmates.

“Didn’t that take up all your time,” the intern said, “I mean if I do that how on earth am I going to get my studying done.” 

How on earth am I going to get my studying done? Hmmm. This student had taken out a loan for her  3 year degree, was worried about paying it back, wanted a job desperately after her studies ended  and was worried about time.

The second occurrence happened when I went to a session hosted by the Communications Students Association at UWI. It had been 16 months since I had been on the campus of my undergrad years. Nothing looked the same. There were more buildings. Less green spaces. More students. Less strident discussion.

At the end of the session which was about Government's proposed implementation of a media bill, I said that when  I was a student we wouldn’t only have had  a discussion, we would have marched around campus, gotten petitions signed  and taken our angst to the streets. Everyone looked at me askance.

But in fact, I was serious. On campus I spent as much time out of class as I did in. I walked in protest over higher university fees, I published a newspaper, I organised fetes to raise money for my faculty. I served on the Guild, I had real experiences.

It was on campus that I realised that I could stretch and morph into something better. That I could be anything that I wanted to be. That I could run a business. Join a protest movement. Marry a non English speaking Italian. That I didn’t have to conform to be successful.

So my two brushes with higher education left me somewhat concerned. Afraid for those who treat university like an extension of high school. For those who try not to get into "trouble" with their professors or face the uncertainty of the unknowable. They are the ones who spend six hours a day in the library, reading their textbooks and do little else.

Maybe there is nothing wrong with playing it safe but now that I run my own business, I get CVS all the time and I confess I never hire the ones who documents suggest that they never made the time.