reading-for-final-speech-2

Educationissupposedtomakeyourich,notwealthyIfyouhappen,asIdo,tobechiefsportswriterofTheTimes,youwillgetalotoflettersfromyoungpeoplewonderinghowtogetajobthatseems–quitecorrectly–tocombineareasonableamountofmoneyandprestigewithacompletelackofanyneedtogrowup.Didyougetadegreeinjournalism?Orsportsstudies?IsthatwhatIshoulddo,getadegreeinsportsstudiesandjournalism?Orwhat?Ihave,overtheyears,evolvedareply.Youhaveachoice,Isay.YoucouldeitherspendthreeyearsreadingShakespeareandJoyce,orthreeyearsreadingme.Workitoutforyourself.Mynephewfailedtotakethisadvice.“Itwasevenworsethanreadingyouforthreeyears.Itwasalltomesonthehistoryofjournalism.”Well,you’vegottomakeacourselastthreeyears,haven’tyou?Soyoufillitwithstuffthat’sneitherinterestingnoruseful.IreadEnglishlanguageandliterature,whichdoesn’tprepareyouforanycareerwhatsoever.Itis,however,jollyinteresting,beingaboutabsolutelyeverythingyoucouldeverwantittobeabout.AndIhavebeenthinkingaboutthepurposeofeducationratheralotlately,sinceonFriday,totheamazementandamusementofmyfriends,especiallythoseIknewatuniversity,Iamtobemadeanhonorarydoctoroflettersbymyalmamater,theUniversityofBristol.“Youwanteitherafirstorafourth.Thereisnovalueinanythingbetween.Timespentonagoodsecondistimethrownaway.”SosaidCousinJasperinBridesheadRevisited,butalas,afourth-classdegreewasunavailabletome.Itookathird.Thisisoneofthetwobestdegreesavailable,thoughinfairnessIshouldpointoutthatIhaveneverheardthatviewfromsomeonewithafirst.ThereasonItookathirdwasnotthroughlackofinterestinthesubject.Onthecontrary,IreadobsessivelythroughoutmytimeatBristol.IcanrememberreadingFlaubertforthefirsttime,andbeingstruckbyathunderbolt:ohbravenewworldthathassuchwritersinit!OthersIencountered,readanddiscussedendlessly,includeVirgil,Homer,Dante,D.T.Suzuki,Basho,Dostoyevsky,HermannHesse,BobDylan,KurtVonnegut,JosephHeller,WilliamBurroughs,JorgeLuisBorges.Andifthatlistisalittlepatchyintermsofquality,that’sgrowingmindsforyou.Butasyouwillnotice,fewofthosecountasEnglishliterature,andthosethatdoweretoorecenttobepartofmycourse.Ireadsomeofthestuffthatwasactuallyonthecourseaswell:butbynomeansall.Itseemedmorerelevanttopursuethemeaningoflifebymeansofthewrittenword.Thisinevitablyincludedamillionwrongturnings:CarlosCastaneda(funbutsilly),KahlilGibran(God,no)andJonathanLivingstonSeagull(no,notevenforaminute).Noneofuswasreadingformarks.Itwasanadventure,andthetutorsandprofessorswerelargelysympathetictothisattitude:IattendedseminarsonDylanandBurroughs,whichwerenohelpatallforthedegree.Whatmatteredwasbeingthrilledbyliterature,bygreatideasandwords,words,words.Turningmelooseamongallthesebookswaslikelockingupalushinabrewery.Itwasatimewhenyoucoulddiscoveranewpoet,meetalifelongfriend,fallinloveandcompletelyalteryourworldview,allwithinasingleterm;andthendoitallagainnextterm.Inever,foroneminutegavethoughttowhatIwoulddotoearnmyliving.NorwasthisviewpeculiartotheEnglishDepartment.Educationhaschangedcoursesincethen.ThosepooryoungpeopleatuniversitynowadayssendmetheirCVsandhavefive-yearplansandtargetsandloanstopay.Forthem,educationisabouttransformingthemselvesintoaneffectiveeconomicunit.Educationshouldbewild,exciting,intoxicating.Engineers,medicsandlawyersmustofnecessitymodifythatview,butonlytoanextent.Thesedays,moreandmoretertiaryeducationestablishmentsspecializeincoursesthatlooklikeashort-cuttoasexyjob:youcanstudysport,orjournalism,ortelevision,orpopmusic,evenfashion,forGod’ssake.Iimagineeducationistssittingaroundatable:“Let’shaveacourseinsportsjournalism!They’llloveit!They’llcomeflockingin!Brilliantidea!Carriedunanimously.”Thensomeawkwardfellowasks:“Yes,butwhatareweactuallygoingtoteachthem?”Uglysilence.“Ah,yes...nowthereyoumayhavehitontheonesnaginwholething...butnevermind,let’sgoaheadanddoitanyway.”Theerror–theheresy–istothinkthattheentirepurposeofeducationistogetyouabetterjob:thattheentirefunctionofanindividuallifeistomakeasmuchmoneyaspossible.Noonesaidtome,readFinnegansWakeandyou’llmakeabloodyfortune;that’sthewholepointofreadingthedamnthing.It’saterribleshame,andIfeelhorriblysadforthepeoplewhomustgothroughitall,carryingtheburdenofeconomicexpectationratherthenthespiritofexplorationandadventure.Wewerealltoobusytryingtosussoutthemeaningoflifetobesidetrackedbysuchside-issuesascareers,untilthetimecametomeetrealityheadon.Thathasn’tstoppedanumberofolduniversityfriendsfrombeingconspicuouslysuccessful.Thepurposeofmoderneducationistomakeyouamorewealthyperson.ButwhenIreadEnglishatBristol,theideawasthatyouendeduparicherperson.Itworked,too.