I got a research paper back from one of my professors last week. In the comments, she wrote that it was a great paper, but she knocked me 10 points for using the wrong citation style.

She added that if I were to go to graduate school, then I would have to learn to use the correct style. And she’s absolutely right. But it made me think.

I’ll graduate in two years, or a year and a half. So I have to decide pretty quickly as to what I’m going to do after I get that diploma.

I’ve thought about grad school, but it’s just never been a major interest to me.

I always thought that if I were going to delve deeper into academia, then I would get a graduate degree in Classical Studies or Latin, or something else that screamed ivory tower.

I’d like to do the kind of thing where I read Cicero whilst wearing padded elbows and using words like “whilst.” But alas, the more I think of higher education, the angrier I become.

Granted, the state has done everything short of slicing the neck of our universities, but my biggest problem with higher education is not the funding. It’s the people and the paradigm they have created.

It all starts with the ridiculous idea that everyone should go to college.

Everyone should go and further their education, but that doesn’t mean attending a university.

Academia should be for academics, not professional training that could be taught at a more cost effective trade school.

And not a day goes by that I don’t hear someone complaining about how stupid it is that they have to take literature, history or foreign language when their degree is in nursing, communication or construction management.

Well allow me to share the most important lesson I learned in Latin: everything is connected. And just because you can’t see the connection between Shakespeare and Pi doesn’t mean it isn’t there. (YouTube that)

Understanding how everything is connected will help you understand everything in general. It’s not the key to being a genius, but it’s the fastest way to a well-rounded life.

My friends call me a Renaissance man, which I think is unfair because I can’t spell Renaissance without spell check. But they do this because I know a little bit about a lot of little things and I like to learn for the sake of learning, which is what a university should be about.

The quickest way to judge whether or not your university has lost sight of the goal of learning is to just ask yourself if you know anyone who cheats, especially for online classes.

Students cheating means that priorities are out of whack because the importance of the class is placed on grades and not learning.

When the possession of a diploma supersedes the possession of knowledge, academia is corrupted. Thank you online degrees.

I believe my mission in life is to learn as much as I possibly can before I die, which, if we listen to the ancients, is the only way to master anything.

There was this old dude in a toga, whose name was Stabo, who said that mastery in any subject cannot be attained without knowledge of many subjects.

This is why universities exist. This is why you have to take algebra, British literature, composition and ancient history.

So you can witness for yourself the connections between every subject.

So next time you’re wondering why you have to take a math class when you’re never going to use it, try looking past your nose and see the big picture.