"And what do you want to *do" with that degree...?"

I get that a lot.

I don't tend to get people telling me that I don't do a "proper" degree because it takes people's brains a while to catch up between the time when I say "Phi.." and when I finish with "losophy, Religion and Ethics". I tend to get "Well, you're covering your bases like that" and "Woah, that's a lot". They just can't comprehend that really, those are three very similar subjects and that whatever happens, I'd still spend most of my degree hiding from St Thomas Bloody Aquinas. 

However, people are always asking me what I'm going to do with my degree. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to be a professional philosopher or ethicist and spend my days stroking my long philosophical beard but with the way education funding in England is going at the moment, I'm not sure any sort of charity concert is going to help me raise the money I'd need to be able to do a Masters or a PhD in such a "non-priority" subject.


So, this is what I tell people who ask me these questions.

"Well, you see, I don't think that universities should be anything like some sort of job-preparation centre. Sure, there are some degrees such as Medicine, Engineering or Dog-Grooming that could ultimately lead to a job. However, the fact of the matter is that we're not all going to become doctors, engineers or dog-groomers. And it makes me sad to think of an 18-year old, full of youthful energy and hope, who has already settled on what their entire future holds before they've even left the treacherous territory of teenagehood. No, I think that university should be a time when we develop ourselves personally and academically. I just want to spend three years doing a subject that I really love. The skills that you gain from a university degree are often a lot more useful than those that you gain from sitting in an office being depressed about life. A degree is Sociology is about as useful as teaching you how to be a manager as a degree in Marketing."

Developing oneself personally and academically probably sounds like a bit of a cop out but some of the most influential people out there are people who did Arts and Humanities degrees. Oscar Wilde, JK Rowling, Barack Obama, you name it.

Also, of course, this sometimes worries people when all they wanted to do was make small talk. They sort of give me that familiar look all students are given in that moment where someone thinks you're going to throw a fire extinguisher at them. If my Small Talk Senses start tingling, I often just say "Maybe Journalism or um, teaching". 

The main problem with the Browne report isn't that they are raising the tuition fees (although this is very important) - it is that they are drastically reducing the funding for Higher Education in the UK and they feel that they will be able to counter this by raising tuition fees? Not likely. 

Also, I do find the emphasis on STEM (Science, Teaching, Education and Medicine) subjects depressing. Why, in yhwh's name, would someone feel that it would be a good idea to discourage people from lower income families from going into Arts and Humanities? I'm pretty sure there's a reason for the image of the "starving artist". Historically, people from backgrounds where they have very little money/a pretty shitty time create gritty, realistic pieces of artwork/writing. They've seen the world, known pain and suffering, that sort of malarky. Maybe that's where the fascination with rich people and "slumming it" comes from.


That was horribly stereotyped and probably mostly untrue but I don't think there should be a situation where someone is "too poor" to do an Arts degree. We also don't want a situation such as in the US where if you can afford to go to university, fantastic but if you can't you have to work very hard to get a scholarship. We're past that, right??

Also, think, Adolf Hitler got rejected from art school. Obviously, we know who the good guys are


So,

"No ifs, no buts, no education cuts"

"Don't be a Kant, don't cut our funding"

"Down with this sort of thing"

and

"This sort of shit wouldn't happen at Hogwarts!"







-Hazel 
Student loan still hasn't come through. Spare a bottle of Sprite, guv'nor?