Now, this is a matter concerning nearly every single person I know in Trondheim, and is one I've given quite some thought during the explosive spurt of reading, memorization and frustration accompanying the exam period of each semester. In and of itself, exactly which classes you take during your years at the university only loosely decide what you can start working with after you are done with a bachelor or a master. You can study boats, but end up evaluating building sites. You can study geology, but end up programming. It is all up to the individual. Not only is that true, but in addition, your grades don't even matter that much so long as you don't fail your classes. In fact, after working for a year or two, not a single employer will likely ask for your grades again. Just to top it off, reading intensely for five days before an exam is in most cases sufficient to not only get a passing grade, but maybe a C, or even a B in some cases. If passing is your goal, then it's relatively easy, but then you're missing the point.
Most everyone agrees that you go to a university to learn. The problem is, in my opinion, that most have the wrong idea as to what they're actually here to learn and what employers will actually look for later. If you want to learn about, say, mathematics, not only is there a plethora of textbooks and well written material out there, but you can learn it all as fast as you want, and for free through libraries and the vast amounts of internet communities out there ready to explain, help and contribute to your learning. In fact, you could probably learn the equivalent to what a masters in mathematics would give you in three years or less if you really wanted to. Now, I'm not saying that this is a reason not to take higher education. You actually should, but for a very different reason. What you actually learn when getting education past high school is two things: Culture and work ethic.
Firstly, after finishing high school you have the level of culture and sophistication of a typical high school movie. While movies often depict nearly exclusively the party- and bachelor-themed lifestyles of students (a life which, admittedly, many students live), you learn to freaking behave. Talking to professors, the more serious students and possible future employers, students all learn to act formally when it's needed and to and to not chuckle quite as much when someone discusses the stiffness of a rigid body. Unlike high school, the university is a place where you possibly, maybe even probably don't know anyone else from before. You have a fresh start. A clean slate upon which the developing student can model a socially functional human being, and that's just what some need to find out who they are and how they can be themselves best.
Finally, you get some work ethic. While a friend of mine recently contemplated why the concept of having to do a set amount of homework to do the exam while doing them actually didn't help your grade was stupid, I remembered what another guy told me a while back. His job is to hire others, and in doing that, he often prefers people with a degree from the university, but not because they're smart. It's because "they f****** deliver stuff on time," he said. "Even if it might not be as good as they would want, I get something," and that counts for a lot. You learn that delivering something, and then improving it over time is a lot better than not handing in anything at all. At least to some degree, you learn to f****** do something (you might thing the profanity isn't needed here, but it really is. That, however is a topic for another post).
Just like many of my friends, I study at the university to learn about science and engineering, to learn about how to be a functional social being, and to f****** do something (more on that later). Why the Hell are you at a university?
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