As people say, education is the key to life. It can open doors of opportunity to people and the society in general. Education is not just about acquiring academic knowledge but it is more about applying this knowledge to the wellbeing of the society. Education is multidimensional, it has aspects that enable someone to influence the society, improve social skills and one is able to rise up to the challenges that affect our society. There is therefore an enormous responsibility on the part of those seeking education to do all they can so that they can make use of formal and informal educational opportunities in the society and educational institutions. Since educational institutions like schools, colleges and universities have a primary role of educating the society, it is important for these institutions to create an environment of academic and social excellence.
My school campus has taken an important step to promote an environment of respect and appreciation. This is a very important step that would promote the wellbeing of students, our immediate society and the general society in general. An environment of respect and appreciation will boost the self esteem of all the students at my school campus. Just the way one can look himself at the mirror to judge his/her physical; appearance, the power of other people’s judgment on someone is very significant. The need for appreciation is an inherent human want that we are all in need of. People are therefore only able to achieve their full potential when they are encouraged by others (not continuously criticized). Internal self confidence is so important because it determines our attitudes which inturn determine our capacity to achieve anything. This internal self confidence is directly proportional to the treatment that we get from others.
Personally in my life, I have felt greatly been pained to see talents go to waste and people’s lives wasted just because they had no self confidence. For the few that personally took an obligation to try and encourage, I came to use an approach that I have always believed is helpful. My approach in such circumstances is trying and boring into the past lives of the people concerned. One truth that I have always discovered is that these are people who have suffered from a wrong social atmosphere where they did not get the appreciation and respect for who they are, what they have done and what they are capable of. My observation is that such kind of people normally hide themselves in social cocoons as they live isolated lives since they cannot trust anyone and believe that every one is out to hurt them and that no one appreciates them. It is very painful that people can believe things that are very wrong. Things that will not just hurt these people but the whole society in general as it is punished for not playing a role in promoting other’s well being. The fact that my school has taken this step today, its role in promoting the social wellbeing of students and staff is very commendable and will obviously have results. A better society in every way however small but significant is necessary.
For a long time to come, we will remember the incident where a student at a university in the United States, went on a shooting spree to kill his fellow students. Students at the university who knew him described him as a quiet person who was socially isolated. This well illustrated how someone can react to the society when he/she feels bitter towards it. Many incidents of violence have been reported at various colleges including my campus. To further compound this problem, a dangerous social evil is emerging. This is because many students and people that are socially isolated as a result of this unreceptive and unappreciated atmosphere turn to drugs. They are likely to find fellows with problems like them who would initiate them into bad groups like gangs. There is a worrying trend that shows that an increasing number of students are turning to drugs. This trend will be brought to a halt if an atmosphere of respect and appreciation is created at my campus.
Never the less, even with the changes expected as the university seeks to create an atmosphere of respect and appreciation, I will still go ahead to transfer from current university. One reason for this is because of the bad social environment that exists at my campus. People are living very isolated lives. The only time I get a chance to interact with other students at campus has been during Christian fellowships whose attendance has significantly dwindled. There has also been increasing cases of violence all of which think can be attributed to the social lifestyle of isolation at campus. In fact, unlike in the past, I am somehow worried about my security and that of my friends and other students in campus. Although my campus has taken steps to rectify its problem, it will obviously take some time to have impact and this will be probably after I have left the campus. There is also a big problem on the social side that I have been facing in campus. As a person who has spent most of my life in the towns, I have found the society around my campus to be very conservative. I am a liberal person and would find it easier in this kind of an environment. The society around and that within the campus has in my opinion preserved some elements of bias towards some members of our society in general. Considering that I grew up in a society where I had friends from people of color and Latinos among other people, it has been very painful for me to stay in this kind of an environment.
According to a recent survey, my University and campus lags behind in academic standards as compared to a good number of other universities in the country. This is never good news to students including myself whose university will be scrutinized by employees. These employees may be biased by these rankings. This may place me at a disadvantage while seeking for employment. Moreover, my campus has not taken steps to take advantage of emerging technologies in teaching. This includes better incorporation of E-learning, better use of internet in learning among other effective methods of learning. I had a chance of evaluating learning facilities at the University where I wish to transfer and I was astonished at the high class technological facilities in use. I have also been increasingly worried by the lack of outstanding research projects in my field. There has been very little research in the field of economics by my campus. Besides, due to the unknown stature of my campus, it is maybe difficult for such research projects to be acknowledged by companies and relevant parties in the world. Likewise, few corporations have shown a willingness to incorporate my campus in research projects.
It is even more worrying that many corporations with recruitment programs in the country do not consider my campus in these programs. Students in this campus are therefore automatically left out of this opportunity. Job seeking becomes harder because many corporations employ non experienced employees like fresh students to join recruitment programs. Part of this problem is because for one reason or another, my campus has found it difficult to work closely with economic corporations in the country. Many students including myself have been having a problem in finding attachments. I remember how I struggled to find an attachment during the summer holiday. My campus does not have a framework of collaborating with institutions and corporations to ensure that students get an attachment without difficulty. Attachment period is very important in many ways. For one, getting an attachment in a reputable organization helped one to gain good experience and improve his/her C.V. On the other hand, it can be a good opportunity to show your abilities and secure a chance for employment. The problem of attachment which is also related to employment is made worse by the University’s proximity. My campus is located in a rural environment where there are no many commercial activities hence there are no many financial corporation offices in the vicinity as they concentrate in towns where there are many customers for their services.
In my opinion, the proportion in the academic staff to students is comparatively low. This prevents students from getting the important individual attention required for learning excellence. I and other students have been having problems with assignments. There has however been a difficulty in getting the needed help from the academic staff. We only see some lecturers during lecturers only with almost an impossibility of finding them in their offices at any given time. Moreover, there is no mechanism of seeking for help through the internet or other means that can apply. This problem is further compounded by the life of isolations at campus. People have not been directly and indirectly encouraged to work in groups. This makes it even harder to learn as one is not able to get assistance from any corner.
An issue of concern to me has been about library services at campus. Compared to many of universities in the country, library services at the university cannot be described to be of high quality. The first challenge for students is that reference materials are not large enough to meet most academic needs of the students. The university library is relatively small. A good bulk of materials at the University is outdated. There is also no online library where students can access reading materials via the internet. Moreover, there is no mechanism of encouraging students to do individual research. There are many protocols involved for one to get support in carrying out research. This prevents students from participating in this important aspect of education.
Creating a good social atmosphere of respect and appreciation is of prime importance to universities. This is the only way of promoting moral, spiritual and academic excellence in the society. This is specifically important in a society where these values are becoming rarer. To carry out the process of educating effectively, Universities need to consider internal and external conditions necessary for proper learning. While some of the learning conditions like library services can be improved internally. Other conditions like nearness to companies are more dependent on external dynamics.