Benefits of Educational Choice
By Daniel H. Fernald
Contributing Writer
Greg lives in the high plains desert of the Great American Southwest, not far from the world famous Grand Canyon. He is in his mid-30s. His father is an artist who builds houses for a living. Following in his father's footsteps, Greg became a builder as well. His work is of the highest quality, and his work ethic is peerless.
Greg is an accomplished carpenter, roofer and heavy equipment operator. An industrious and honest man, he has worked late nights for the last several years, finishing the interior of the home he built for himself, his wife and his daughter. Greg has a good life. He works hard for a decent wage and owns the home in which he lives. Greg is living the American Dream.
But Greg has decided to make a change. Greg is going to college.
Greg's story is similar to my own. I took a break between high school and college, during which time I worked as a carpenter, roofer, blacksmith and mason, among other trades. I learned how to build barns, weld iron in the forge and make horseshoes. I joined the US Army too, just for the life experience. It was an interesting time.
Although, like Greg, I had sworn off the academic track ― thinking it hollow and unfulfilling ― some time out in the world persuaded me to return to it. I was proud of my new abilities and had much to show for it. My father only recently sold the house that I built for him over 20 years ago and my mother still uses the decorative ironwork I made for her, including a cinder shovel, a fire poker and a decorative plant hanger. I even gave her a horseshoe for good luck. I think she still has it.
It was an interesting time but one which ended sooner than I could have anticipated. Sore muscles from endless days of manual labor combined with a sense of mental atrophy and, frankly, boredom lead me back onto the academic track from which I had removed myself, thinking that I would never return to it.
Taking time off was the best move I ever made, because it made me appreciate how fortunate I was.
I can still remember the joy of my first semester in college. I took astronomy, just because I had always wanted to. It fulfilled no requirements and the only benefit gained was knowledge. My freshman composition class was at 8 a.m. Most of my classmates would drag themselves in, looking like something the cat dragged in, but for someone used to waking up at 3:30 a.m. to the sound of an angry drill sergeant, it was Shangri-la.
Without that time off and the experiences that came with it, college would have been just another step on a path that had been laid out for me, into which I had precious little input, and I too would have dragged myself to Freshman Comp at 8 a.m., longing for a few more hours of sleep. I would not have taken astronomy.
As it was, every day I didn't have to pour concrete in the sweltering summer heat or do pushups at 4 a.m. was like a day at the beach.
That same joy led me to excel in my studies, pursue a Ph.D. and quickly earn promotions and tenure as an American university professor. Today, as an expat professor in the land of my wife's birth, I feel blessed every time I am privileged to walk into a classroom full of Korea's future leaders. Without the opportunity to wander for a time, I would not have nearly the same appreciation for the blessedness of the life that I've been given.
The same is true for Greg. Despite his boyish face and cheerful, even ebullient personality, his body bears the scars of two decades of labor ― and his mind is all the sharper for the experience. He plans to become an engineer; this man of intelligence, character and experience will succeed and will likely have the same sense of blessedness that I feel, for having the opportunity to live just as he wants to live and to do just what he wants to do.
Is such a thing possible in Korea? I'm sure that it is in principle, but I wonder how often it happens. I have never had a "Greg" in any of my classes here. I had any number of them when I was a professor in the U.S. and each class was significantly improved by their presence. Some were outstanding students, as Greg will almost certainly be, but even the ones who were just average contributed so much in terms of maturity, attitude and thirst for knowledge.
I see such a difference in the classes here that have even one or two young men who have completed their military service, with their renewed and refined sense of honor, commitment, patriotism and seriousness of mind. Their example inspires others to try to match them, to the benefit of all.
How much more would my students benefit from having one or two "Gregs" in each of their classes?
How much more would those "Gregs" benefit from having a fuller appreciation for the opportunities afforded them?
How much more would an entire nation benefit if young people could explore different life paths, without having to fear that the gateway to wealth and privilege, a University education, would be closed to them should they veer off the academic track to try something else for a time?
How much more greatly would a people be blessed, whose members were all doing just what they wanted to be doing, and counted each day of work as a joy, rather than a burden?
Just imagine what a place that would be. Just imagine.
The writer is an Associate Professor at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. He may be reached at professordhf@hotmail.com.