Career, College, Citizenship

While lecturing to my 125-student freshman class and assuming that many of them would wait until the night before to write their first paper, I got the bright idea of asking them if they understood the lesson of the Three Little Pigs. As a six year old, I was scared, if not traumatized by the thought of being eaten by a wolf if I didn’t work hard and the fear still remains for me. Every time I think of cutting corners, a voice goes in my head tells me that I will suffer the fate of two lazy and stupid pigs. The students’ reactions shocked me.

The first surprise was that only half the class had even heard of the story. I was in for a much bigger shock when I tried to tell the story to the clueless 50% and several students interrupted to tell me that I got it wrong. They said that the first two pigs escaped and ran to the house of the third pig and lived happily ever after. The wolf just moved on as if the frustration was enough of a punishment. I was incredulous to this new rendition.

The most disagreeable finding from my student’s research was that cleverness, not hard work, is the key to success. Apparently, the people who have rewritten Three Little Pigs have forgotten Thomas Edison’s dictum, “Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.”

I was in for a final, but enlightening shock when one of the new versions had the brick-building piglet who invited the other two to live in the new brick abode was a female piglet. She showed compassion for her little brothers by protecting them from the consequences of their laziness. The wolf remained a male, of course. It wasn’t the feminist twist that got me but that the creative people behind these rewrites were propagandists seeking to control the minds of six year olds. Or, perhaps they were just hoping to get more sales.

Readers may object that the original Three Little Pigs was also propaganda since it was selling the idea that hard work and cleverness pays off. While this objection is not groundless, it also indicates why our cultural messages are so confusing to today’s 20 year olds who prefer instant gratification instead of hard work. Too many of them have built their financial houses out of plastic. These more nuanced and competing messages may explain why Game Boys, X-Boxes and Play Stations have replaced such tales since there is no ambiguity in fictionally blowing up cars and killing people.

Children like clarity. Put all this together and it may explain why college students spend less than 10 hours a week on school work outside of class, why 60% of recent college graduates live at home with their parents and why employers complain about the work ethic and willingness of new hires to pay their dues. 

When you think about it, parents who buy the four-year degree for their child are in the same situation as all of us in buying our cable TV service. We really don’t want half the channels, but we are forced to buy the package.

The most serious objection to the idea of unbundling undergraduate education comes from those who would argue that college ought to be more than a vocational experience. They typically argue that undergraduate programs will build a better citizenry and create intellectually well-rounded critical thinkers.

The citizenship argument is not convincing given the continuing low rates of voter turnout and participation in civic groups even as the number of college graduates increase. There are many other reasons for these low rates, but, as many college presidents collectively and individually complain, four-year college programs don’t seem to be turning out active and reflective citizens.

The term “critical thinkers” is so vague that one wonders how critical thinkers can actually use the term with a straight face. Intellectual well roundedness does not describe most college graduates. The vast majority of college students when forced to take courses outside their area of interest are academic bulimics----cramming and then spitting out information on tests and papers.

Four years of college experience may still be the optimal path for many students attending college right out of high school because they need the time to mature as well as the academic and non-academic experiences provided in four years. However, even these students could benefit from what one Dean of continuing education calls “chunking their degrees.” They could select specific credentials such as technical writing, public speaking, civic engagement and human relations at the general level and accounting, survey research and using spreadsheet programs at the more technical level. Together these chunks might take three or four years, but they would be coherent and focused on specific sets of skills.

Most important students could choose what they considered important not just for their careers but also their lives. The four-year college degree is like mothers telling their kids to eat their peas before they have dessert. That’s okay for children; but not for today’s college students.

Plan a Career-Ready College Education by Designing the Ideal Resume You Hope to Have by Your Senior Year

I suggest that college freshmen create an ideal resume that will be ready by the fall of their senior year. While this may sound like an eager move, I recommend it to help you set goals and guide you through your academic years. GPA, academic honors and a major or majors is far from enough. Employers want to be provided clear evidence that you have the work ethic, communication and analytical skills gained through my 3C Skills Program. They also want to see some serious attempts to explore careers while in college.

This ideal resume may include a few of the following items:

• A Resident Advisor to show communication, problem solving and work ethic skills
• Reporter for the school newspaper to show evidence of writing skills
• A steady record of community service to show caring for more than one’s self
• A paid summer internship during the junior year that is competitive like those offered by General Electric or highly sought after non-profit jobs like working for the Children’s Defense Fund to show that a rigorous selection process verified the skills and that the internships themselves provided additional skill practice across the broad
• A University job like working in food service where the student is given management responsibilities to show attention to detail, managing people and work ethic
• A telephone sales or survey job that shows communications skills and a willingness to accept failure
• A research project with a professor or senior thesis to show higher level analytical and information gathering skills
• Courses that emphasize writing and team projects to show the ability to work well with others
• Treasurer for a student organization, even a fraternity or sorority, to show money management and leadership skills

The point of this list is that coursework serves as a starting point. The proof is in the “doing” in the world outside of the classroom. Career-ready college graduates see everything they do in their four years of college as an opportunity to practice their skills. The kinds of activities listed above will provide that opportunity. The best option is for students to take courses that get them into the real world. Colleges are offering more courses, even in Liberal Arts Program, to provide practice for the entire set of skills. You need to take such courses even though they are more time-consuming and aggravating. Planning a college senior year resume will also help college freshmen think about college choices. Even if you are past your freshman year, it is never too late to think concretely about the future.

 A template for planning four years of college is provided in my book, 25 Ways to Make College Pay off: Advice for Anxious Parents.

I have written elsewhere that students who complete the college application process properly and ahead of deadline have exercised most of the skills in the 10 Skill Sets that will help them do well in college, and more importantly, prepare them for a successful career after college. They organized the information they received instead of being overwhelmed by it. They detected the nonsense in most college recruitment material. They demonstrated good writing by preparing a winning college essay. They compared costs systematically, which is at the heart of money management. They developed solidone-on-one communication skills and managed their time properly.

Guidance counselors need to point out to students and parents that the college application process is a window into their children’s future college and career performance. Like everything in life, success is about how you play the game. Even if students don’t get into their top college choice, a high quality application and a systematic approach to making a choice will tell parents their children are headed for college graduation and a desirable career. If their kids don’t pay much attention to the college application process and finish their application too close to the deadlines, they better prepare themselves for having their children living with them well into their late 20’s. Who better to deliver that message than guidance counselors?