“Sometimes being aimless helps you discover where to aim.” — Russ Roberts
All the talk these days about frivolous college studies has me remembering some of my endeavors at the University of California, Santa Barbara, 1977-1981, that would make me question the academic and career seriousness of a kid doing so today.
- Started as an English major, the original “What are you going to do with THAT?” major.
- Took a class on popular culture that mostly involved watching classic movies (hey, it’s where I fell in love with Casablanca, so money well spent!).
- Took a class that attempted to teach French through the watching of French movies.
- Crocheted during my classes instead of taking notes.
- When I didn’t know the answer in an essay test, wrote a short story in which characters debated the two possible answers.
- Took up a professor’s challenge to memorize the “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” instead of taking a final exam.
- Switched to a Literature major in the College of Creative Studies, a ’60s holdover with no grades and no tests.
- Took a class called “Undergraduate Bibles,” which included Catcher in the Rye and Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance and … something by Tom Robbins, maybe Even Cowgirls Get the Blues?
- Wrote a paper on Doonesbury, complete with comic strips Scotch-taped onto my typed pages as quotations.
- When looking in the job placement office for my post-college career starter, filled out a portfolio for a job at Hallmark Cards just because it seemed hilarious to me.
- Got the job, worked there a year and a half, then left because it was intolerable that they would not do things my way but instead fell back on their, you know, decades and decades of profitable business experience.
And even now, when I’m an old lady and would like young people to get off my lawn and also stop majoring in gender studies, I have to admit that this sort of nonsense worked for me. Maybe I’m a little sorry that it’s no longer financially feasible to be kinda unfocused and unserious and aimless in one’s college studies and early career. Just another of the billion or so reasons to Make College Affordable Again.
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