Archive for January 2021
The college major system is archaic
While much of the learning done in college is valuable, a significant proportion of students don’t actually use their undergraduate degree in their future career. Even though a college education is a useful experience with regard to diversity of thought and academic rigor, students would be much better off if they were permitted to explore…
Read MoreDrained to exhaustion by online learning, students should be given less school work
I began to feel the adverse effects of online school while doing homework one night during our second week. My mind a relentless murmur of the same fatigue that seemed to unfocus my eyes and sway my thoughts during the school day, I spent an hour reading a passage again and again, trying to drill…
Read MoreHow high schools failed victims of sexual assault
Sexual assault may seem like a distant fear for some, but on college campuses, it is an everyday reality. Of course, the combination of freedom and alcohol creates a dangerous environment and enhances teens’ raging hormones, thus increasing the likelihood of assault occurring. But the problem does not entirely arise from students seeking to indulge…
Read MoreSafe, structured lives
Over the summer, did you consider taking a gap semester? Possibly a whole year? If so, you were definitely not alone. At both Harvard and Yale, roughly 20 percent of incoming first-year students deferred. Similarly, I opted for a leave of absence, delaying my senior year to the fall of 2022. Despite how frequently the notion of a…
Read MoreSeeking a Pandemic Alternative to Tough Love
My teacherly instinct is to embed love and encouragement into my pedagogy. I go out of my way to get to know my students, to learn their extracurricular interests, family structures, social problems, and athletic achievements. I believe that students learn best from teachers who they like and who they believe like them. And I…
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