The article begins with a few kudos for what college can do for you. Then it suggests there are some additional courses that will help you succeed in business or whatever comes next.
What follows are the six classes recommended by Joe Flanagan, a senior employment advisor at VelvetJobs, along with my comments on each. If you read this, please take a minute to leave a comment as regards what class or classes you think should be added to a college education.
1. Computer Science: Introduction to Programming
When the internet came along in the 90s, I bought a book titled Learn To Write HTML In Two Weeks. In two weeks I knew how to create a basic web page using the Hyper-Text Markup Language (code) that creates web pages.
98% of us will never need to do any programming. To understand the concept of programming to you really need to to pay tuition to learn basics that you will never really use? There are YouTube videos and books that can give you this foundational insight. It's not rocket science.
2. Marketing/Branding
If they teach a course on personal marketing and branding, it may be useful. It's important to know how to market yourself. To market yourself it helps to know yourself. For this, I recommend Richard Nelson Bolles' What Color Is Your Parachute? For the overall marketing of your self I recommend Personal Marketing Strategies. Unfortunately, the latter is out of print, but there are usually a few used copies available on Amazon.com. (If my own book on marketing ever gets published I will be recommending that as well.)
3. Graphic Design
They also suggest Photoshop as well. Now frankly, in my career, every single person who I've known with Photoshop skills learned it by using tutorials online. This is not something you pay college tuition prices for. My personal career required a grasp of design principles. I was in advertising and promotions. But like so many other things, if you are motivated, borrow every book you can from the library and read them, then buy the best one or two for your personal library.
This makes sense if you are going to be in management. Learning how to use stats and analyze data has a place. If you are an entrepreneur, understanding how to gather and read data will be essential.
5. English
Those who can communicate effectively will go further than those who cannot. Sadly, our K-12 schools are failing to teach even the basics of English these days. Colleges have a remedial English class for incoming freshman so they learn how to write a paper. Good heavens. This after 12 years of English classes? Reading, 'Riting and 'Rithmatic are the basic foundation stones of an education. If you have not mastered these at this point (before heading off to college) I recommend a tutor.
6. Personal Finance
This is such an important skill. College students are inundated with credit card offers. My father's response when I started getting them in 1970: "You're not getting a credit card." Debt is a major burden for those who bear it.
There's much to learn with regard to handling finances. Is there really a class for this? I know that there's plenty of ways to make bad financial decisions. The best way to learn financial matters is a mentor. Find someone whom you trust.
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You can read the full article here.
What do you think?
3 comments:
My 12th grade English teacher, Mrs. Turner, recommended that anyone planning to go to college after graduation complete a programmed learning book on grammar, the name of which I can't think of off the top of my head.
It was quite a thick book, and took a while to complete, and she didn't give us any extra credit for doing it, either.
But she warned that otherwise we might have to go to a remedial English course "English X", which she called "Bonehead X", and that THAT course gave no credit, but had to be paid for. And it had a waiting line, and those who hadn't passed it couldn't take any other English classes, either, which might even delay graduation.
I did the programmed learning book, and tested out of remedial English.
And 2 or 3 years later, I visited my former English teacher and asked her if I could borrow a copy of that book so I could do it again. She said, "Sure!" and I did the book a second time.
Good story.
My senior year in high school, my mom wanted me to take a typing class. As a graduation present my parents gave me a typewriter. It came in quite handy for many years. And typing skills have rewarded me immensely ever since.
Thans for sharing.
My dad and mom didn't recommend a typing class, but got us started typing on my mom's old Underwood down in the basement. Mom had books with drills in them. (I believe that I remember her telling us that she held the fastest-ever record on a manual typewriter at Duluth Central, and that her record would never be broken, because the year after she'd set that record, Central had switched to electric typewriters.)
In my Chinese class at DLIWC, we were required to pass a typing test for basic skills, or take remedial typing in the evenings (my party time lol).
So I rented a typewriter from the BX, practiced ahead of time, and passed the test.
I like to tell my students, "Don't do what I did, and graduate from college still not knowing anything, then have to learn it all afterwards on your own." But I'm just kidding, (kind of).
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