Spring final exams are here

It’s the time of final exams around these parts, so the university library where I work at is teeming with students looking to cram in that last bit of studying, or project finishing (perhaps starting?). Look at all these people who’s got perfectly fine desks at home but choose the library instead. Whatever it takes to get the job done, obviously, but it’s a phenomenon I can’t understand.

Why give up the peace and tranquility of the home for the bustle and noise of a crowded study lab during finals weeks? How are these people able to concentrate better at a place with more auditory distractions?

I’d really like to know.  

Some would surely argue there are other items around the home more distracting than the din of fellow students, such as a gaming system, or an over-talkative roommate. I would counter that it may be true before the first iPhone was invented, but nowadays we carry around with us the biggest time-sucking device ever created: the smartphone. I don’t suppose any of these students doing work in the library have left their phones elsewhere.

One scant peek at twitter and it could easily be an hour lost into the abyss. Don’t ask me how I know.

Again, however a student chooses to finish his or her studies is not for me to criticize, but for me, I absolutely need a place of silence and solitude. I do my best work when there’s nothing to disturb me for a solid period of time, and the studying halls of the university library is not it.

That said, good luck to all who are amidst final exams these few weeks; it’ll soon be over.

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Duly noted.

Fall semester 2018 begins

Fall semester starts up at work today, and for the first time in three months the campus will be teeming with people, largely wild-eyed freshmen not knowing which building is which. Summer is officially over as far as I'm concerned (suck it, Labor Day) and pretty soon it'll be pitch dark before 6pm. Once the calendar turns over to September, the rest of the year goes by super swiftly.

My own brother is also about to start his final year of undergrad. He is majoring in sociology, which on one hand more knowledge is always great, but on the other what the heck is he going to do for money armed with such a degree? What other paths are there for a sociologist other than remain in academia? Hindsight being what it is, I think my brother chose the wrong major; even he knows it's large useless. 

Children of rich households can afford to study a silly subject for a diploma, but sons and daughters of the poor and lower middle-class haven't got the luxury of a parental safety chute. The purpose of college for people like us is to enhance our ability to attain a well paying job. A big reason why I chose to major in business was because I figure business skills are paramount and applicable to all industries. I would've loved to major in philosophy and have heated discussions about the differences of Platonic and Socratic thought, but like sociology that won't pay any of the bills unless I continued on further and  become a researcher. 

I wonder how many incoming freshmen are cognizant of the monetary utility of the major they selected. Most probably don't care because it's infinitely more fun to think about all the alcohol-fueled sex college is fertile ground for. But student loan debt is at record highs; don't high school counselors have a duty to direct kids to the proper channels so that the debt incurred would be worth the future income?

Some of these kids would be a better served not by a standard four-year institution, but rather an accredited trade school. Despite being maligned and stigmatized by society as low-rung, blue-collar jobs can pay equally well as the office desk. The growth potential can be the same, too: the auto mechanic, can after years of service, open his own shop and reap all the profits. One does not need to wear a white-collar to make six-figures.

I think it'll benefit the university system and society as a whole if some forethought and advice is given to kids beforehand, that college is not the only option to a good career. Because one can always become a Youtuber or Instagram influencer. 

This is the sound of settling...