I was reading comments related to "Leisure College, USA" yesterday. The report talks about how college students are studying 10 hours less per week than their counterparts in the 60s (though mysteriously college GPAs have not gone down during this time.) The idea is that colleges are demanding less, or students are just expecting to put in less effort – whatever way you want to look at it.
One of the commenters talked about how in the 50s and 60s, the buzzword was "hustle", meaning people knew and understood the value of putting in hard work to reach a goal. For whatever reason, I feel that is starting to fall by the wayside today. I know this is one of those sweeping generalizations that can't be proven, but it is the way I feel. A lot of people today are just stone cold lazy.
In education, you read about how to better engage students, have better assessment, etc. All of this is true, but it's not magic. If a student puts in little to no effort, no real learning can take place no matter how great the technique.
You see this highlighted when things go bad in life. My rule has always been, if things go bad then you need to start putting in twice as much work to right the ship. Instead, a lot of people just throw in the towel when things go bad.
I have faith that in general, hard work will pay off (though not always and perhaps not right away). While this belief may not be 100% accurate, I feel it is the best way to approach life. Otherwise, you are just passing time and waiting for "good fortune" to hit, which in my view is too passive of a mentality.
Long live the hustle!
("The New Hustle" by Greg Lamarche)
higher education and healthcare are the only industries growing in the US. universities can’t make things too hard for the students or they will lose high paying customers.
Matt,
HUGE topic you are talking about here.
For one, I think it’s a huge mistake that everyone is expected to go to college. I for one was not university material at all. So that is were part of the “laziness” is coming from i think. Many are there against their “will” and will not put in the work and will actually become lazy and apathetic from being there.
People need to be stimulated…their interests nurtured and “lit on fire” and then they will not be lazy…and happily perform at optimal levels. My own 18 year old cousin is a prime example of this. He struggled in school his entire life…there was just no context in it for him….until a year ago, he started volunteering at a hospice facility. This struck a cord in him and created context for him. No he studies, no LEARNS happily and is on his way to med school in europe….hes sure he is going to become an MD, his mom (my sis) is not so sure… as she doesn’t think he’s got the ability…so she thinks maybe he will be an excellent nurse…but it doesn’t matter wither way. HE’S NOW got the fire inside and once the fire is lit, people enjoy what they do and will happily put in the work…I think he’s going to be a fine doctor one day.
Thoughts?
Well, there are major problems with the educational system from the first levels and on up. But now with college being marketed for “everyone”, it changes the game, because a lot of people aren’t academically inclined.
I think you end up with a huge expectation gap between professors and students, because by their nature, professors enjoyed school and did well in school. So it’s hard for profs (like myself) to see things from a different perspective.
As to your cousin, he may like the idea of being a doc, but is he willing to put in the sometimes not-that-enjoyable-level of study to go along with it (the hustle)?
The only person I personally know that became a doctor was a top student all the way through school, like myself. So I would remain skeptical, but hopeful…