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  Dr. Jean Park (She/her/hers)

  March 19, 2024 at 9:57 am Reply

  Notes from Sydney Johnson:

  Institutions of higher education seem to seek to find a role for students to fit into. These roles and how they are perceived shift over time and are highly reliant on the economy. For example, during times of war, colleges may promote defending your country, or might promote peace, depending on the narratives of the time. One thing that is an often sought out aspect of college education is the social mobility that comes with it. People go to college so that they can get a well paying job once they graduate. Colleges often portray a dichotomy between two main types of students- one who is involved in student activities such as athletics and fraternities, and one who is passionate about their studies and is involved in things like research and honors programs. This seems to represent the larger economy as a whole because we have a strong system of capitalism in the US. The ideals of working hard at your job so that you can have a chance of economic success is a common narrative in our society. This has caused student life activities to become somewhat frowned upon as they would take students time away from the grind of doing assignments. However, some students may be looking to participate in student life activities regardless, which seeing as we are all humans that crave social connections, is natural. Ironically, the focus on student life activities has allowed students to pursue academic topics that they are interested in rather than strictly the ones that are emphasized by society.

  Another aspect of colleges that is highly influenced by the economy is inclusion. For example, when society is trying to prevent women from rising to power, they may paint the image that an educated women is unappealing. However when women and minority groups get involved in student life activities, the same as while males would participate in, they may be painted as irresponsible, incapable of handling education, and the like. School is overall a microcosm of the world. Your role in college often shapes what you will pursue in life, not just in terms of academics and your career but additionally the roles you play socially whether you are a leader in your fraternity, or an honors student, or someone on student government, there are a variety of ways that your college career can go. I believe that the dichotomy is often somewhat false, that students can excel academically while still being involved in student life, and that this represents a healthy work life balance.