I was going to write about the Grammy nominations, how they’re interesting in the context of intended demographics and whether my generation will ever care about a once-yearly award show.
It’s hard to imagine that we will, considering there’s that Internet thing, lots of constant communication, a news cycle that relies on immediacy, the ability for ANYONE to air their opinion to a large audience, etc.
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An award show presented once a year that somewhat arbitrarily declares the best, implies the worst through omission and celebrates itself for existence just doesn’t seem relevant in the audience-edited universe of Reddit, Twitter and Facebook.
Tl;dr there are a lot of good arguments for why the Grammys are a waste of time.
I just boiled my entire column into four paragraphs, and that’s because I’ve had trouble focussing for the last few days long enough to construct a coherent argument.
The reason? My college career is finally at its end and my mind has become untethered.
So long as I don’t fail a certain class, I will accept my diploma and graduate on Dec. 15. While thinking about writing about the Grammys I realized that approaching the stage, accepting my sheet of paper and promptly walking into the real world will be, in some ways, similar to a once-yearly awards ceremony.
There will possibly be a carpet colored vaguely red, an audience will be in attendance and those of us accepting awards will commence in a congratulatory circlejerk. But it’s similar to the Grammys in another, more important way: it’s useless.
Don’t get me wrong, college itself is a pretty worthwhile commitment. Certain rigidities of it though, such as grades, attendance, pop quizzes, finals … they’re not going to help any of us in a capacity other than graduate school admissions.
What I’ve learned during my four-and-a-half years at CSU is that it’s more important how you spend your time outside the classroom than inside the classroom.
I don’t have a job lined up post-graduation, and it’s true that I’m a bit freaked. I will likely spend months searching for something and will have to move to another area. It is a frightening prospect, but I know that the skills I’ve amassed through internships, independent work, student media and diligence make me a competitive applicant in my field.
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Notice that coursework is absent from that list.
Our classes can provide us with a limited knowledge of our field of study. They provide us with building blocks, but we will never truly learn about our field until we apply that knowledge in a real world setting.
I find it odd that it took 17 years of schooling for me to realize that school isn’t very important, but maybe that’s just how long it takes for some of us. As I leave CSU, I’m not going to look back on my courses as the most meaningful and useful aspect of my schooling.
An obligatory note for my professors: many of you were and are great teachers. I mean no disrespect, but it’s the real world that has prepared me for the real world. I’m terrified and excited to enter it.
