Posted on Jul 29, 2018
Sinking Standards And Indoctrination: A Veteran's View Of The College Experience
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When I graduated high school I immediately enlisted in the military. After months completing OSUT at Fort Knox, Kentucky, and a brief vacation home for HRAP, I was stationed at Fort Hood, Texas. Over the next few years, my education would come in the form of deployments, field training exercises, structured self-development courses, and professional development schools. I wanted something more though. I looked forward to a time where my career would be at such an optempo as to allow for me to complete my formal civilian education. That time never came. Instead, I found myself medically retired at the age of twenty-four. After a brief stint of wallowing in my own self-pity, I decided to get my life back on track and, ten years after graduating high school, I found myself front and center in a college classroom.
I had previously imagined how college would be. I was never a great student in high school; more often than not, I was a slacker who managed to skate by with good test scores. In my head, I thought that, at best, I would be roughly a B student if I put some real effort into my work. Due to the VA educational benefits that I had earned, I did not have to split my time between working some part time job to pay the bills and use my spare time to complete schoolwork. No, I could completely dedicate myself to my studies. I soon found that my vision of what college would be was nothing close to the reality of it.
I soon found that I was not expected to put in the kind of effort that I had set out to do. Surrounded by hordes of young kids, ranging in ages between 18 and 22 mostly, I was easily one of the oldest people in each classroom. Most of the students didn’t do the assigned readings, turned in homework late, and scored terribly on midterms and finals; did they know something I didn’t? Yes, they did. It would seem that the American education system had morphed from a place to broaden one’s formal education and promote critical thinking to a daycare of sorts where these teenagers and early-twenty-somethings could prolong their childhoods for a few more years while the teachers, in what can only be rationalized as an effort to keep their jobs “useful”, tossed passing grades on to transcripts. Eventually, without learning how to even properly format a paper, these students would graduate with Bachelor’s Degrees in their various disciplines. This is not at all an exaggeration, sadly.
Just recently, I completed a condensed three credit hour course during the summer 2018 semester. I didn’t have to study, I didn’t open up the books after the first week, and I spent most of the lecture time arguing with the professor. I ended up with a final grade of over 99%. How did this happen? Well, because the course was simple to begin with. I was always going to get a low ‘A’, but the reason that it was nearly a perfect grade was because the professor continually added extra points to exams and assignments in order to ensure that every student received a passing grade. If this sounds asinine to you, it should. The idiotic professor’s disgusting and intellectually dishonest practice allowed me to receive a 121% on an exam just so a few more undeserving idiots could pass. This is what the American education system has become.
Now, I have spoken before about a professor that I have become quite close to; in fact, if it were not for our professional, student-teacher relationship, I may go as far as to say we were friends. She has not yet been taken in by this system of inflating grades to ensure the survival of her position, but even she has voiced how the standards that students are being held to are abysmal at best. Reading comprehension is non-existent, the ability to write a coherent paper of over a page and a half is rare, and it would seem that grades are seen, by students, as not earned by virtue of hard-work and demonstrated understanding but rather they are bought and paid for via their tuition. This may be a symptom of the rampant entitlement that seems to be almost ubiquitous amongst this up and coming generation. Sadly, I belong to this generation.
At the very same time that students are being shuffled through their university education, many professors take the opportunity to vomit their vile personal beliefs from the lectern. In the army we always joked about fighting communists as if it were a thing of the distant past, but it would seem alive and well. I never imagined having to defend the American way of life in a classroom and yet, time after time, I find myself defending the constitution, capitalism, and the rule of law from whole groups who believe that the founding fathers had it all wrong. If the fact that students were getting unearned diplomas was not enough to anger me, listening to students and professors preach the many blessings of communism surely did the trick.
After two more semesters I will graduate with my BA in English; I am on track to graduate with honors. I will be throwing my application for admission to a short list of institutions and I have no doubt that I will be allowed to attend one of them. I can only hope that graduate school will not be tainted with the same practices as undergrad.
If attending college has taught me one thing so far, it is that traditional, four year degrees should not be sought by everyone. In fact, I have become a firm believer in the value of technical schools and trades. Were it possible to go into my field, teaching, without a liberal arts degree, I would. What has become apparent is that the often spoken lie that one cannot be a success without a college degree has been espoused so many times that we all seem to believe it and that is sad. I have an entire group of very close friends who have never attended college, some of them dropped out of high school, and they are all on their way to making far more money in their careers than I can ever hope to make as a college English professor. Perhaps we would be better off if students understood the value of some of these careers or at least understood the necessity of hard work.
I had previously imagined how college would be. I was never a great student in high school; more often than not, I was a slacker who managed to skate by with good test scores. In my head, I thought that, at best, I would be roughly a B student if I put some real effort into my work. Due to the VA educational benefits that I had earned, I did not have to split my time between working some part time job to pay the bills and use my spare time to complete schoolwork. No, I could completely dedicate myself to my studies. I soon found that my vision of what college would be was nothing close to the reality of it.
I soon found that I was not expected to put in the kind of effort that I had set out to do. Surrounded by hordes of young kids, ranging in ages between 18 and 22 mostly, I was easily one of the oldest people in each classroom. Most of the students didn’t do the assigned readings, turned in homework late, and scored terribly on midterms and finals; did they know something I didn’t? Yes, they did. It would seem that the American education system had morphed from a place to broaden one’s formal education and promote critical thinking to a daycare of sorts where these teenagers and early-twenty-somethings could prolong their childhoods for a few more years while the teachers, in what can only be rationalized as an effort to keep their jobs “useful”, tossed passing grades on to transcripts. Eventually, without learning how to even properly format a paper, these students would graduate with Bachelor’s Degrees in their various disciplines. This is not at all an exaggeration, sadly.
Just recently, I completed a condensed three credit hour course during the summer 2018 semester. I didn’t have to study, I didn’t open up the books after the first week, and I spent most of the lecture time arguing with the professor. I ended up with a final grade of over 99%. How did this happen? Well, because the course was simple to begin with. I was always going to get a low ‘A’, but the reason that it was nearly a perfect grade was because the professor continually added extra points to exams and assignments in order to ensure that every student received a passing grade. If this sounds asinine to you, it should. The idiotic professor’s disgusting and intellectually dishonest practice allowed me to receive a 121% on an exam just so a few more undeserving idiots could pass. This is what the American education system has become.
Now, I have spoken before about a professor that I have become quite close to; in fact, if it were not for our professional, student-teacher relationship, I may go as far as to say we were friends. She has not yet been taken in by this system of inflating grades to ensure the survival of her position, but even she has voiced how the standards that students are being held to are abysmal at best. Reading comprehension is non-existent, the ability to write a coherent paper of over a page and a half is rare, and it would seem that grades are seen, by students, as not earned by virtue of hard-work and demonstrated understanding but rather they are bought and paid for via their tuition. This may be a symptom of the rampant entitlement that seems to be almost ubiquitous amongst this up and coming generation. Sadly, I belong to this generation.
At the very same time that students are being shuffled through their university education, many professors take the opportunity to vomit their vile personal beliefs from the lectern. In the army we always joked about fighting communists as if it were a thing of the distant past, but it would seem alive and well. I never imagined having to defend the American way of life in a classroom and yet, time after time, I find myself defending the constitution, capitalism, and the rule of law from whole groups who believe that the founding fathers had it all wrong. If the fact that students were getting unearned diplomas was not enough to anger me, listening to students and professors preach the many blessings of communism surely did the trick.
After two more semesters I will graduate with my BA in English; I am on track to graduate with honors. I will be throwing my application for admission to a short list of institutions and I have no doubt that I will be allowed to attend one of them. I can only hope that graduate school will not be tainted with the same practices as undergrad.
If attending college has taught me one thing so far, it is that traditional, four year degrees should not be sought by everyone. In fact, I have become a firm believer in the value of technical schools and trades. Were it possible to go into my field, teaching, without a liberal arts degree, I would. What has become apparent is that the often spoken lie that one cannot be a success without a college degree has been espoused so many times that we all seem to believe it and that is sad. I have an entire group of very close friends who have never attended college, some of them dropped out of high school, and they are all on their way to making far more money in their careers than I can ever hope to make as a college English professor. Perhaps we would be better off if students understood the value of some of these careers or at least understood the necessity of hard work.
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I'm on contract in the mid-2000's, OEF. Giving actual salaries here because it was a while ago, I was in a job paying 138k. Job paying 225k comes up. I'm overqualified, if anything, and the people want to (internal) hire me, but the "customer" (USDOS) has specified a Bachelors as minimum. Didn't get it, of course.
So, I'm back in OEF, different company, couple years later. All the time there is and good internet (Camp Blackhorse), and more or less because of the above, I decided to finish my 4 year degree. Didn't need much. Signed up with Phoenix. Had to write papers, had to read other students papers. Students couldn't spell and had no idea what grammar was. There was one female in the internet class who was really anti-gun. Kept talking about the "right to BARE arms"...after the teacher didn't say anything and the spelling/use hadn't been corrected, I very nicely mention it to the student, really just being nice to her because she was stupid, and we end up in a discussion where she nearly goes off on me for daring to tell her she was wrong. I had to go over "bare", bear (carry) and bear (the animal) and I swear she never really understood. At one point she went off on a tangent that baring (she spelled it bareing) arms was like when you see someone roll up their sleeves before a fight (never saw that outside a movie) and that was aggressive and guns are aggressive...then she went to bears (no shit) are mean an guns are mean so it has to be that. I quit that discussion. I may have been slightly patronizing at the end. In todays parlance no doubt I was also "mansplaining". It was on an open forum and the teacher ignored it.
But this was a 26 year old woman who nearly had a Bachelors, had graduated high school, and had already finished most of her college. I suppose the teacher couldn't be bothered because she was probably aware of the problem and didn't care because it's everywhere.
But that was net, and the prof was a neutral entity who really did nothing but assign work. How, in the fuck, could one deal with that every day in person and with the prof driving the clown car?
So, I'm back in OEF, different company, couple years later. All the time there is and good internet (Camp Blackhorse), and more or less because of the above, I decided to finish my 4 year degree. Didn't need much. Signed up with Phoenix. Had to write papers, had to read other students papers. Students couldn't spell and had no idea what grammar was. There was one female in the internet class who was really anti-gun. Kept talking about the "right to BARE arms"...after the teacher didn't say anything and the spelling/use hadn't been corrected, I very nicely mention it to the student, really just being nice to her because she was stupid, and we end up in a discussion where she nearly goes off on me for daring to tell her she was wrong. I had to go over "bare", bear (carry) and bear (the animal) and I swear she never really understood. At one point she went off on a tangent that baring (she spelled it bareing) arms was like when you see someone roll up their sleeves before a fight (never saw that outside a movie) and that was aggressive and guns are aggressive...then she went to bears (no shit) are mean an guns are mean so it has to be that. I quit that discussion. I may have been slightly patronizing at the end. In todays parlance no doubt I was also "mansplaining". It was on an open forum and the teacher ignored it.
But this was a 26 year old woman who nearly had a Bachelors, had graduated high school, and had already finished most of her college. I suppose the teacher couldn't be bothered because she was probably aware of the problem and didn't care because it's everywhere.
But that was net, and the prof was a neutral entity who really did nothing but assign work. How, in the fuck, could one deal with that every day in person and with the prof driving the clown car?
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SGT Joseph Gunderson
This doesn't surprise me, and I can testify to this problem only getting worse.
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"The traditional 4 year degree should not be sought by everyone"---I agree 100%. But in the military, that is the only way to be an officer. Perhaps OCS should be accessible through a test. I would suggest an IQ test, and a demonstration/performance eval based on real-world decisions that have been made in history. I remember hearing pilots talking about another pilot having "a degree in underwater basketweaving and being too stupid to do anything but fly." Their comment, not mine. Was kinda counter-intuitive, I had thought flying would be a very intelligent activity....
America is still very class-conscious. If you have a degree, you are upper-class, I know some will argue, but that's my opinion. There is nothing I could have done better than have a degree when I was early 20's to insure my financial success. I stumbled onto contract security and made more in the last few years I worked than I did the whole rest of my life, but if I had a degree, i would have made about twice what I did even during that period.
America is still very class-conscious. If you have a degree, you are upper-class, I know some will argue, but that's my opinion. There is nothing I could have done better than have a degree when I was early 20's to insure my financial success. I stumbled onto contract security and made more in the last few years I worked than I did the whole rest of my life, but if I had a degree, i would have made about twice what I did even during that period.
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SGT Joseph Gunderson
I don't disagree that there should be another avenue to become a commissioned officer, but I don't believe IQ has anything to do with performance in the military, even among the officer types. I really believe there should be more of a push to source officers from the enlisted; I would like to see something like a program that identifies SMs prior to E5 that might make good officers and send them to a development school.
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MSgt J D McKee
I really like your idea better, I was just writing without much thought and remembered a few notable occasions when it appeared the officer in question had the IQ of a sock puppet. But, yes, some way to promote from within. But even the higher ranks of enlisted, if not actually required, the competition are all gonna have some kind of degree now, at least that is what it seems from when I was in, it was headed that way in 1996 when I retired.
And every college is a teeming hive of communist sin and villainy, of course. I couldn't survive there, but then, I'm pretty sure I couldn't repeat my USAF career starting now, either.
And every college is a teeming hive of communist sin and villainy, of course. I couldn't survive there, but then, I'm pretty sure I couldn't repeat my USAF career starting now, either.
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SGT Joseph Gunderson
No doubt, it does. Which I think is a helluva argument for living and working a little prior to attending university. Young students, those who have just left high school, are very much like soft clay and do not have a form of their own. Rather they take whatever form the professor chooses. Those of us who have lived, who have experienced life, and understand what it is we value and where we stand on certain things are more like a roughly formed sculpture. We can still be shaped but we are resistant and it is the harder material that allows us to be shaped into something greater, with more detail, and more understanding.
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I have to agree with you. I worked for my degree back in the late 60s and early 70s. I became an adjunct professor for a for-profit 'university' in 2010. The 'university' hired corporate experienced adjunct professors that brought real life views of the civilian working world which was more valuable than a PhD with no real world experience. However, as adjunct professors we were expected to 'work with' low performing students to help insure that they would continue taking course$$ and graduate.
The attitude of several in each class was, as you said, 'I paid for my passing grade' and don't have to work for it. I always failed one in my classes and in the 'instructor evaluations' by those failed students rated me very low, skewing my overall 'student happiness index'.
My students went away learning something, but my students all said that I was the hardest teacher at the university. Word of mouth got out and students avoided signing up for my course (Small Business Management). I went from 34 students per course to 6 or less. The majority looking for 'easy grades'. I eventually left the 'university', because the student work ethic was so low and the corporate management expected adjuncts to attend mandatory training with no compensation.
I was also a corporate college recruiter for many years back in the 80s and 90s. I was shocked at the misspellings and poor grammar in so called high school graduates' job applications. I saw this coming back then.
I will say that the Interns that I have hired and worked with in the last 10 years have been the exception. Most were hard workers and achievers. I could depend on them to get things done as long as I gave them good direction and the training necessary. They confirmed the issues with other students and many of the 'tenured' PhD professors.
China's education program is producing more and better educated graduates. China will eventually surpass the US in innovation, technology, manufacturing, scientific advancement, wealth generation, quality of life, etc. The US should be concerned about this eventuality.
The attitude of several in each class was, as you said, 'I paid for my passing grade' and don't have to work for it. I always failed one in my classes and in the 'instructor evaluations' by those failed students rated me very low, skewing my overall 'student happiness index'.
My students went away learning something, but my students all said that I was the hardest teacher at the university. Word of mouth got out and students avoided signing up for my course (Small Business Management). I went from 34 students per course to 6 or less. The majority looking for 'easy grades'. I eventually left the 'university', because the student work ethic was so low and the corporate management expected adjuncts to attend mandatory training with no compensation.
I was also a corporate college recruiter for many years back in the 80s and 90s. I was shocked at the misspellings and poor grammar in so called high school graduates' job applications. I saw this coming back then.
I will say that the Interns that I have hired and worked with in the last 10 years have been the exception. Most were hard workers and achievers. I could depend on them to get things done as long as I gave them good direction and the training necessary. They confirmed the issues with other students and many of the 'tenured' PhD professors.
China's education program is producing more and better educated graduates. China will eventually surpass the US in innovation, technology, manufacturing, scientific advancement, wealth generation, quality of life, etc. The US should be concerned about this eventuality.
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CPT Michael Theimer
My comment about China's innovation and technology advancement surpassing ours:
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/china-says-it-has-developed-a-new-radar-system-that-can-spot-us-stealth-fighters-at-incredible-distances/ar-AACJJSs?ocid=ientp
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/china-says-it-has-developed-a-new-radar-system-that-can-spot-us-stealth-fighters-at-incredible-distances/ar-AACJJSs?ocid=ientp
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Your experience parallels mine, though in the 1970’s it wasn’t as bad. How do I know? I taught college for 30 years after my active duty. I had a unique experience: I was hired to teach Emergency Medical Technicians. Back in 1975, there were no degrees in this area, so I was literally teaching and attending the same college after being hired. I then completed my Associate, and then transferred and completed a Bachelor and then Master’s degree. My master’s enabled me to branch off to teaching anatomy & physiology. Then I entered the Lutheran ministry, earning a doctorate. So, yes after active duty I was older than my classmates and had a lot more life experience and maturity. I was blessed to teach older students in anatomy & physiology who were returning to school to become nurses, physician assistants or dental hygienists. They were amazing! I met their spouses, their kids, often baptized their kids, did weddings, and even their family funerals. It was very rewarding until I switched to day classes and got 18 year olds. Oh my goodness! This was the early 20000’s and since my doctorate was in pastoral care, I deduced to complete my career at the college by taking a transfer and becoming a Counselor. WOW, I continued to be amazed that the younger and younger students were without reading, writing or math skills. I retired by buying active duty time and went into ministry full time.
Military or veteran college students were so much more mature, as they had to make decisions that impacted their future before. Lately however, I have heard that vets are not as willing to take responsibility for themselves. I read about snowflake kids and can’t understand how you can be a veteran and a snowflake....then I read here how the culture has changed.....but it just can’t be THAT bad, can it?
Military or veteran college students were so much more mature, as they had to make decisions that impacted their future before. Lately however, I have heard that vets are not as willing to take responsibility for themselves. I read about snowflake kids and can’t understand how you can be a veteran and a snowflake....then I read here how the culture has changed.....but it just can’t be THAT bad, can it?
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SGT Joseph Gunderson
It most certainly can be that bad. It is a sad state of affairs in this country of ours these days.
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You have seen the way college education has deteriorated. Even in the 70s, there has been grade padding. It seems that the education profession is more concerned with bringing in the tuition and getting tenure than really educating the students.
How many of your courses were taught by teacher assistants/graduate students? It was one of my concerns when getting my undergraduate degree. I hope that your experience in graduate school is better, mine was.
With the scandal going on now in higher education (buying entry into different colleges, having someone else take your child's SAT or ACT it seems parents are encouraging this inappropriate type of action. Ethics and educational excellence appear to be something of the past. The educational institutions are helping in the dumbing down of America.
How many of your courses were taught by teacher assistants/graduate students? It was one of my concerns when getting my undergraduate degree. I hope that your experience in graduate school is better, mine was.
With the scandal going on now in higher education (buying entry into different colleges, having someone else take your child's SAT or ACT it seems parents are encouraging this inappropriate type of action. Ethics and educational excellence appear to be something of the past. The educational institutions are helping in the dumbing down of America.
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SGT Joseph Gunderson
My school was a small private school without GTAs. However, I applied for a GTA position this fall and I know that I am very capable of teaching my discipline to undergraduates. That being said, most students are probably not like me.
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I totally agree ... It certainly applies to my experience as a vet in their 50's going back
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Colleges today are nothing more than High School 2.0. The more kids that go to college and the more that stay for a full four year means more money for the university. The easier and 'funner' colleges are the more potential students will apply to go there. It all about money.
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I hadn't graduated high school at all before I enlisted in the Army. I'd been living on the street for a little more than 2 years. I decided I didn't want to put up with the lessons and rules and quit. My dad said if I was old enough to make that decision I was old enough to support myself. The Army made me realize that education was important and discipline and order were essential to any kind of success in life so after being discharged I got a GED and went to college for a couple semesters and then a Vo-Tech afterward. I started a paint and drywall business afterward and was fairly successful. Then I went to another Vo-Tech and learned to use and repair computers. The skills I learned in the Vo-techs were what gave me abilities to succeed although the college course didn't do many any harm so on that point I tend to agree with you. The order and discipline I came to respect in the Army were what made my appreciation for education and working for an end possible in my opinion. My dad told me he respected that and I was, after 20 years welcome in his home. That most definitely would not have happened without the Army's influence.
As far as the falling standards in our in educational system, we're using a part of that right now. Kids don't have to study anymore. They find the answers on the internet, copy them with a few twists and turns so they will look like they studied and get the grades needed to complete their classes and move along to the next level. The fact that many of those teaching their classes did the same thing to get where they are is one of the reasons that standards are lowered and our educational level is slipping in the worldwide ratings. This is just my opinion of course but seeing my friend's children doing exactly that give credence to it for me at least.
As far as the falling standards in our in educational system, we're using a part of that right now. Kids don't have to study anymore. They find the answers on the internet, copy them with a few twists and turns so they will look like they studied and get the grades needed to complete their classes and move along to the next level. The fact that many of those teaching their classes did the same thing to get where they are is one of the reasons that standards are lowered and our educational level is slipping in the worldwide ratings. This is just my opinion of course but seeing my friend's children doing exactly that give credence to it for me at least.
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In Technical Schools you must do the work.. That is even more so for schools leading to an Airframes and Powerplants License of which must meet F.A.A. standards. Hell even missed class time results in homework covering the material that would have been learned during class.
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