Its not the syllabus silly.

Must say that my varsity years were some of the best days of my life.

True, I could have learn't what I did by spending muchos time in the library. That is not all that varsity is about though.

Even MIT acknowledges that just the course content is the easy part. Which is why they are pushing their Open Content initiative. Give the knowledge away for free.

So, what did it take away from university.
1. I grew up.
It was the first time that I had lived away from home, and it was in a different country, so I got to really mature.

2. I met interesting people.
When you are on a campus with 15000 intelligent individuals, it is amazing the kind of interactions you have. Some of my closest friends are people I met at university

3. I had interesting conversations
While I could have learnt the theory from just reading books, it was useful to debate contrasting ideas with the faculty. Instead of learning by rote, I learned to learn. That and the breadth of knowledge you acquire is invaluable.

4. Joined a club
Yes, like someone said, it is a key you are getting. I know I could never have gotten my first job if I had not gone to university. The interviewers were impressed by my work experience (had been working in the family business, plus had had real world experience through university internships), but the university degree from the right school guaranteed me a seat at the interviewing table.

Now, you might not like the way the system works. You might argue that you already have all of the above, but until you are running your own shop, you should work the system.

Tapiwa
Tuesday, November 4, 2003

Education certainly has it's place and IMO it's not a waste of time.  Where would we be if life was just a free for all.  Good on you for being positive (makes a change around here).

TES
Tuesday, November 4, 2003

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