I went to college. It was okay.

More unnecessary rumination about college that probably should not be shared publicly. Will I ever learn?

I'm not proud to admit this, but I don't look back at my years of attending classes at a state university as having really taught me all that much. For the classes I took only out of obligation what I had to get from them to pass I pretty much forgot after the semester ended, and for the classes in my area of focus it was more a matter of just proving that in high school I'd learned how to read and assemble an essay. As regards "creative" writing, what I got was a reminder that it took putting some effort in to making the story good (something I already had figured out), and that the professor I kept getting (coincidentally) really didn't give much a shit, and that most people who take those classes aren't doing so because they have talent but because they think the class will be easy. I'm not suggesting it was an utter waste but it was hardly a transformative experience.

There were classes where I did learn some things that stuck with me, although not for any utilitarian reason: the music survey courses I took as electives (an overview of the Romantic period in classical, and the history of jazz). Having a general interest in music (but not having sufficient talent to be a musician), and already having an appreciation for classical and jazz (both of which I listened to during high school, as good background for studying) they provided subject matter I found genuinely interesting. By no means did a couple semesters of high level glimpses of these areas turn me into a scholar who could lecture on the topic, but it would allow me to vaguely identify the distinction between bebop and big band swing, to have a rough idea of what the forms of a symphony were (or at least how many movements there were), and how to pronounce the tricky composer names like Dvorak. Ultimately, it allowed me to participate in a conversation on such a topic if that came up a cocktail party, to avoid seeming like a completely uncultured philistine.

Which, if one gets down to it, is pretty much the practical application of most of what one gleaned from the classes one took at college outside of one's major.

I'm not suggesting that these have come up terribly often, but given that the subject matter stuck with me at all so that I could at least have a rough idea what someone else was talking about it the topic did arise is more than I can say about most of the rest of the classes I took (and that includes ones in my major… alas). That I actually enjoyed the classes while I was taking them is more than can be said for a lot of others I sat through is a nice bonus.

And unlike the material I purchases for other classes (which were either sold back or are sitting on a shelf or in a box), what I bought for those classes still come up sometimes on the iPod (well, the jazz at least; we've discussed the issue with classical before).

But by no means was going to college a waste. Having a degree, if nothing else, proves I can stick with things, see them through, and most important, put up with the bullshit inherent in the system.

That, ultimately, is what one really needs to learn. And how to not seem like a completely uncultured philistine at a cocktail party (such as your spouse's office holiday which you may be attending this time of year).