I now only have a few more weeks left in this semester and then…possibly freedom from studying. Or not, depending if I decide to do postgraduate studies or another degree. I’ve also had my eye on going back to doing some sort of multimedia degree so that I can actually learn how to create and program and develop.

My need to get the info or the experiences that I need lead me to do things beyond the classroom or computer lab and I am very grateful for that. I really don’t know how I came from what I was like November 2007 as a fresh faced student finishing her first year (not only in QUT but in Brisbane) and into November 2009 (although Nov 07 – I started applying for jobs relating to graphic design) as someone completely different.

Students = we should always question, challenge and learn.

PS: Just saw this entry in my own the website. My 3 year QUT plan! http://suarez.id.au/2009/05/25/my-3-year-qut-plan-2007-to-2009/ It needs a bit of altering though

Please do counter-blog, I’d like to read it! Thanks the comments, all.

All spot on.

Read Dan Tapscott’s The Demise of University. You’ll like it

Ed

I ask this because I currently go to a university that in the eyes of the general public is “second-tier”. That said, I’ve found myself gaining more out of the bare bones of this course than most do out of more in-demand university courses offered by Sydney’s (and Australia’s, at that) more prestigious universities.

I guess I could counter-blog this to explain my situation, but to put it simply: I may not have the same level of experience as you (who knows what I’ll be thinking in 2.5 years) but based solely upon the descriptors offered it appears like the problem is in how the course is set out and not just universities in general.

I’ve had two university experiences. The first, in the US at a lovely (and tiny) liberal arts uni, where the profs hosted dinners and student involvement (while grossly over emphasized) was actually somewhat heartfelt. Funny thing, I can’t remember where that degree (in Rhetoric & Media Studies) is gathering dust. My second experience, at an MA program in the Netherlands where the professors stated in their email signature that you would NOT be receiving a response under any circumstances and the students were basking in the glory of socially supported education into their late 20s (three MAs? Why not!). I do believe my first degree was a stepping stone that has and will enable me to do many things that would otherwise not be possible. And yet…

I laugh partially because my best friend who grew up in the glorious DDR, joined anti-fascist groups after the wall fell, and dropped out of John Lennon High School in Berlin now has a posh job with a permanent contract, earns much more than I and probably always will. But he is white and male. I’m a girl with brown skin living in Amsterdam. Oh, the shame. And yet, and yet…

Even though I value my education, I know that what I most learned came from experiences outside an institution. And, of course, from lots of time spent reading more recent literature, like blogs. Thanks…

P.S. In my entire time as a commissioning editor, I’ve never once looked at a person’s CV.

a) only took the degree to shut my parents up
b) found it easier to get jobs WITHOUT the degree than WITH it (all the people saying it’ll make my life easier are wrong)
c) had to pay full fee for being international ($16,000 was the cost per YEAR – thank god for that CI partial scholarship in 2nd year)

I totally support your statement. Especially the sniggers about the uni being more than paper-pushing.