This is Us, in Transcript Form
In elevating the degree, we lost the respect for the process in acquiring them.
Recently, as often happens on social media, a disagreement devolved into snark and nastiness. Nothing unusual about this; it happens thousands of times a day. Profanity, name calling, and dismissive condescension- it was all there, along with comments for and against each side. The overall gist of the argument is relatively meaningless; the ending of it, however, I pondered for several days afterward.
“Let’s compare transcripts,” they boldly challenged, “post your transcript and see if its better than mine,” in what they no doubt felt was mic drop moment.
The initiator even hash tagged it, repeatedly daring their opponent to post and compare academic records in a tweet that also contained enough grammatical errors to make it almost laughable. No one took them up on it. It is just the sort of bullying nonsense I usually dismiss and leave uncommented or muted, but for several days since I have thought about it. In fact, some researching of the hashtag itself revealed it was a product of trolling, a nasty piece of business meant to be followed and exploited by malicious software as it bounced around twitter. In this case no one took the bait.
But it was the insistence on comparing college transcripts that stood out.
An academic transcript is a record of grades, degrees and honors received. Achievements, of course, and something in which to take pride. But if we are honest, academic record is just a statistic. I like statistics, and her ever-evolving sibling analytics, but as Mark Twain explains it “facts are stubborn things, but statistics are pliable.” A doctor, the old joke goes, who graduated with a C- is still titled Doctor (or Captain, in the military version.) Finishing last in your class at Harvard, Stanford, MIT, Oxford, or West Point still affords you all the cache of the conferring institution.
The perception is still that most college students graduate high school, then go on to a four-year institution, live in dorms for at least the first few years, and have the traditional college experience. Upon graduation, these newly degreed young adults either enter their chosen field with a leg up because of their credentials, or go on to a post graduate study. The reality is that college students are more diverse than ever, not just in terms of race, gender, and background but in terms of learning experience.
The increase in online and other non-traditional approaches available to degree seekers has changed the landscape of what makes a “typical” college student. 55% are 21 or under, fitting the age range that comes to mind when you say, “college student”, but that leaves 45% pursuing studies well into adulthood. Only 45% live on campus, and of off campus commuters, only 9% live with a parent or guardian. The “typical” college student includes the 28% of students that have children themselves, and 62% have some type of employment. The classroom itself is not the traditionally defined space either, with 28% of students taking at least part of their classes online.
All this diversity is not easily reflected on paper, which brings me back to what grabbed my attention on transcripts in the first place. There are many stories in each person’s education journey. Maybe they can be found on a transcript if we know how to look for it. In the spirit of taking something meant for demeaning another, and turning it into a positive, I will share mine. Not to elevate me, since I have quit, failed, or dropped out of more schools than I will get a wall decoration from; but because both in the good and the bad I want to encourage other people to tell their stories of how they educated themselves. I don’t need to see the paper; I want to learn about the person.
You see, I was one of those non-traditional students, and my transcript tells a complicated story. There are many things I am proud of on there; not because of the grades but because of what I went through, overcame, or learned in getting them. Passing three CLEPs (testing for credit in lieu of taking the full course) done from a tent in Baghdad, where in order for you to sit for the exam the test proctor helicoptered in. The pride in the “C” and “B” I earned in the first classes I took after relearning to write with my dominate right hand following a traumatic brain injury, right side paralysis, and months of rehab. There is the nearly perfect score on a degree capstone course, where much of my research was getting to interview and spend time with one of my heroes. Such a course is an experience valued far beyond the cost of the credit hours. There are even failures, such as the withdraw/fail for lack of attendance in my true freshman year when I immaturely quit school. Then there is the community college transfer credit earned while working night shift for just above minimum wage and taking classes. Doing so not for the learning but my own pride; proving I wasn’t a quitter or failure, or simply to prove to myself and others that I could do it. I could go on, but the point is every one of those classes was a life experience unto itself.
It seems we have lost that perspective. In our rush to be credentialed for the approval and acceptance of others, we lost the “traditional” point of college as a time of not just academics but of finding your way as a young adult, transitioning from kid to citizen. More to the point, education is supposed to be bettering of one’s self, not an end goal. As higher education became more of a box to check off than a pursuit of knowledge, inevitably the possession of the degree took precedent over the quality of person the experience produced. Such a gap is quickly filled with vanity and loss of perspective. In elevating the degree, we lost the respect for the process in acquiring them. In making sure the CV looks right, we sanitize the very values that are supposed to be represented by academic achievement.
The diversity in these experiences is immense and worth knowing. Consider the man who went through four years of lower seminary to be a priest, but instead enlisted after the 9/11 attacks on his native New York and still serving on active duty to this day. There is the woman who completed finals at the Medical College of Virginia (Virginia Commonwealth)so sick she could barely walk, because the drugs for her chronic illness would endanger the baby she would deliver shortly before walking at graduation. Or the two poor kids who went through college on grants and hard work, married, and stayed in their impoverished communities as teachers to try and make it better for the next generation. A girl with little self-esteem from a bad home worked 35 hrs. a week to get by on top of student loans, then went on to work full time while commuting to law school. Those are just the people close to me that I know personally. There are untold multitudes that worked hard for scholarships, took on student loans, worked hard and sacrificed. And those positives are worth celebrating and telling, not because of the paper that makes up our “I love me” walls, but because it comprises an integral part of who we are.
And then there are the vast number of folks that never go to college at all, and others that took some higher education courses without graduating. Some of our most brilliant minds never did, and in the technology age the Jobs and Ellisons of the world affected our daily life without any credentials other than billions of dollars earned and millions of lives affected. That amazing graphic on higher education cited above comes from the philanthropic foundation of noted Harvard drop out Bill Gates. Many of our most talented writers, artist, actors and musicians do not attend college formally, but contribute greatly to society. Many folks without formal higher education but skilled in trades not only earn good wages, but go on to own their own businesses. And let us not forget some of our wisest forebears never had the opportunity. Many first generation college students only did so because their parents, families and others worked hard to ensure opportunities they themselves never had would be afforded to their children.
Having success in an education journey should be a source of pride and an inspiration to others, not a dividing line of self-affirmation. Even if you’re still aspiring to someday participate in higher learning, only taken a class or two, or if you did something to help another go, let your story be known. What was meant as a put down, let us use to tell our stories as inspiration to others.
Comments, questions and interaction is always welcomed:
four4thefire at twitter.com at gmail.com
Graphic Courtesy of The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Original writing and photos Copyright © 2018 Andrew Donaldson. All others attributed to source. No reuse without permission or credit to original.
This story is published in The Startup, Medium’s largest entrepreneurship publication followed by 284,454+ people.
Subscribe to receive our top stories here.
