The most important task for every education establishment is to specify its goals and academic expectations to its students. Students should know for sure which specific skills, knowledge and abilities they may learn in some particular university. Once the University promotes high motivating goals and inspires its students to achieve more in their lives, it will be definitely popular among the American students as it is closely connected with the American culture and values. According to Stewart, the great specialist on the American culture, person’s decisions are motivated greatly by the desire to achieve the self-interested aims in career and other areas of life (p. 134). In fact, the goals set by the universities and the expectations they have are very important. In the following paper, I will seek to find out and discuss the common expectations in an American University by means of analyzing several reputable sources containing the information about the Seattle University, the Florida State University, The Charles Sturt University and the North Carolina State University. I have my goal to discuss the issues which the universities see as important for students’ education. In addition, I will include a discussion of important qualities in the education of all the students in the Universities. All this will actually show that the American culture influences greatly the university’s expectations of students in Seattle and other American Universities.
First of all, it is important to specify the goals and priorities of American universities for students education and professional qualifications. American Universities have a great line of important issues in students’ education. To begin with, the Seattle University ensures the intellectually challenging education. As for the cultural constituent of its education goal, the University has it objective to form a well-educated personality with its own character, vision and leading qualities. As to the moral education constituent, the Seattle University has its objective to form a balanced person due to its approach of following the values of faith, justice, tolerance, and a unique view as to discrimination, violence and environmental problems. The University also provides a special training to help the students to develop their spiritual background as it is the religious established university by Jesuits which provides means to deepen their understanding of faith and God. Another important constituent is providing a sufficient basis for athletic development along with academic training. The students are offered high-qualified training which will help them to develop such physical skills that will be advantageous for them if they want to achieve good sports results on the state level. The other important goal of the University is to help its students to make a right choice of the future career. The university also offers to associate with the peer students from different parts of the country so that to develop important communication and negotiation skills. There is also an offering for non-native English speakers; they are offered to acquire great writing, reading and speaking skills along with other different academic skills (The Seattle University Bulletin 8+). Thus, the Seattle University provides numerous opportunities for exploration of personality, building strong faith, striving for fitness and wellness. All the courses have its aim to help the student to clarify the most important issues, broaden their horizons, deepen their knowledge and answer the most significant question in their life, “What to do with one’s life?” (The Seattle University website).
As for the Charles Sturt University, the Florida State University and the North Carolina State University, their goals are very equal to the Seattle university ones. They aim at educating the balanced developed person who will have a high qualified formation and empowering successful leaders for a modern American society. They are dedicated to help a student to find valuable information and advice about one’s life important choices, at a time when it is needed most. All of them help students to learn how to become competitive in today’s job market; they offer the very useful experience, which is very important so that the employers will want to hire such fine specialists with modern market knowledge, useful abilities and skills. These universities offer an education that builds one’s confidence along with the qualifications. They are the results-focused institutions of higher learning that offer their students adaptability, professionalism and value. These universities help to bring into line and strengthen innovative science solutions and investigative skills to continue discovering new things and technologies that guarantee the economic balance (The Charles Sturt University website, The Florida State University website, The Florida State University Bulletin 5+, The North Carolina State University Bulletin 6+). So, the conclusions can be made as to the common ground between the four universities which are connected with the fact that all the universities follow models conditioned with the American culture. The desire of American people to realize their lives to the fullest extent motivates people to study for revealing their potential in the best possible way. Every American student wants eventually to graduate from the university as an erudite and fully grown person and possess the skills he always wanted. Another important common ground between all the four universities connected to the culture peculiarities is the longing for measurable achievement. American people have learnt how to value their achievements during the centuries. Thus, every university mentioned above held annual conferences to see the goals which were successfully achieved and set the new ones. This makes the accomplishment measurable possible and visible.
As for the courses listed as the major requirements in the Seattle University and the reasons to have those courses, I should say that the financial course I study at the university provide sufficient training to become an effective financial decisions maker fully armed at working during the hard times of economical crises and other financial problems. Finance specialization at the Seattle University includes numerous subjects to show the importance of finances’ role in the economy and the efficient allocation of all the resources of course mostly such courses are finance, economics and mathematics. These subjects along with some others are considered obligatory, and every student is required to have these courses. So, the major subjects for the financial students are English, economics, finance, philosophy, history, mathematics, fine arts, social science, theology, religious studies and ethics. Additional accounting and economics are offered, but not required as all the finance studies. So, this shows that the studies program is well-thought and offers options for both the students with limited time resources and for those who are longing to learn more and have the necessary time and opportunities. This is a very good approach to have basic subjects which are obligatory for all the students and those which can be optional so other features of the American culture are pluralism and free will to choose. Such freedoms are very important and help young people to achieve the best goals in their lives.
To sum everything up, it should be said that the American culture has always influenced the university’s expectations of students in Seattle and other Universities. Young American men have always wanted to get the best education and training possible to find their own place in this world in order to achieve the best results possible. Let us, for example, take into consideration one of our modern day famous genius Steve Jobs and analyze his life life. After one day studying at the university, he realized that he could not see the future outcome and every single subject he learnt did not seem to make him closer to the sweetest understanding of his place in this world, he simply quitted and recognized that this difficult decision became one of his best lifetime decisions. So, his life shows how important it is for the universities to do their job to help young people to find their way perfectly well otherwise they will go to find the purpose of their lives elsewhere. It will be great if they follow the destiny of Steve Jobs, but what if they fail to do it? Some talented person with a great potential might not be realized. Taking all the above mentioned into consideration, a conclusion can be made.
American socio-cultural assumptions relate directly to education and students’ functioning in the environment of university education. All the academic studies, athletic practices and competitions, and social tasks are organized to help every student to become a good deserving well-educated person for the society and find his/her place in life. Thus, they will achieve one of the most important stages in the American culture which is self-realization in the world.
Works Cited
- Stewart, E., and Bennett, M. American Cultural Patterns: A Cross-Cultural Perspective. 2nd edition. United States: Nicholas Brealey Publishing, 2005. Print.
- The Charles Sturt University website. Web. 2011.
- The Florida State University Bulletin. FSU Study Guide. Tallahassee: The General Libraries, 2011.
- The Florida State University website. Web. 2011.
- The North Carolina State University Bulletin. NSU Study Guide. Raleigh: The GeneralLibraries, 2010.
- The North Carolina State University website. Web. 2011.
- The Seattle University Bulletin. SU Study Guide. Seatle: The General Libraries, 2010.
- The Seattle University website. Web. 2011.