Uncle Edmund’s Advice
November 20th, 2009 by John Creighton in Snapshots
Uncle Edmund, Great Grandpa Albert, Uncle Stanley
I often think of my multi-great Uncle Edmund’s advice he gave me while I was in college.
There is pressure on students these days to get thinking about a career, early, and plan ahead. Parents feel the pressure, too. A friend told me recently that she was advised not to let her son start college if he hadn’t decided on a career. It’s a waste of money, she was told.
I am a plan ahead sort of guy so much of this long term thinking resonates with me. But, I think too about my Uncle Edmund’s advice to slow down.
I began college as many people do with a utilitarian mindset. What major will lead me to a good job at a good salary? I began with plans to be an engineer. By the end of my freshman year, I knew that wasn’t for me. I enjoyed finance and statistics so I turned next to the business school. I was cruising along through my sophomore year satisfied with my choice. Then, out of the blue, I received a letter from Uncle Edmund.
Uncle Edmund was a professor at the Harvard Business School. Seems he heard through the family grapevine that I was in business school as an undergraduate. He was not impressed.
His letter was short and to the point. It went something like this: What are you doing? If you are going to be a professional of any note, you will have to go to graduate school. Why in the world are you pursuing a professional degree at this time in your life? You are missing your last opportunity for a liberal arts education. Now is the time to expand your mind not prepare for a job.
Uncle Edmund’s opinion carried weight in our family. I took his advice to heart and I looked into what it would take to switch to a liberal arts major. It was the best thing I ever did. I fell in love with economics, which led me toward public policy. I took classes in South African History and learned about a part of the world I’d barely heard of before, gleaning lessons of human tenacity I still think about today. I took literature classes and Western Civilization, which gave me the opportunity to read classics I would have completely missed. I had the chance to study with a history professor who ripped my essays to shreds and motivated me to stretch myself. I entered subject areas that were far outside my comfort zone. And, for the first time in my life I experience the joy of serendipitous learning – discovering things I did not know existed.
Liberal Arts is not for everyone. And, there is a need to be a bit utilitarian when it comes to investing in college. I understand that. And, thank goodness we have people who stick with the engineering. But, I also learned that it’s easy to get caught up on a practical track and miss out on a lot that education and the world has to offer.
I still earned a business degree. I was far enough along that with an extra semester I earned two degrees. I also left college with an education I never imagined was possible because it didn’t seem the sensible thing to do.
I appreciate my Uncle Edmund.
One Response to “Uncle Edmund’s Advice”
I loved sociology in my brief college career. My mom asked me what the heck kind of job I was going to get with that. So when Ky changed out of pharmacy classes, I told her to study whatever interests her, just stay in school. I wish I had gotten advice from an Uncle Edmund way back when. But at least I was able to give some today.