Education.

I've been challenged lately by two videos. The first I saw a while back as it was released in 2007 by a group of students at Kansas State University. The students created a powerful, silent film about the traditional classroom and technology. They tell an all too-familiar tale about the lives of college students as they pertain to class assignments and lives outside of class. The second video is more recent, an ad by Kaplan University (the for-profit institution with about a gazillion jobs currently available) featuring James Avery, Uncle Philip from Fresh Prince, as a professor. If you can look past the marketing ploy of Kaplan, at the heart of the video is the message: We (traditional systems of higher education) have failed you.





My career plan/goal is not to stand before a chalkboard and lecture. Whenever I say what I'm getting my degree in, everyone always says, "Oh cool. so you're going to be teacher?" Well, not exactly I say...I will however be an educator. I may not deliver lectures, dole out essay assignments, and grade midterms and exams, but I will impact the lives of students during their college careers. I will support them in their quest to become better scholars, better leaders, better learners and better contributors to their communities and I will challenge them (Hey Sanford!) to stretch their boundaries, question their biases, and grow beyond their comfort level.

Yet with all that being said, the two videos still make me stop and wonder whether I'm doing enough and whether or not the system is doing enough...