Thoughts on Education

How do we decide what is worth studying?

No, please do tell me, because I would like to know and understand the answer to this question if it is at all possible to do so.

Some subjects, it can be argued, are more worthwhile than others when it comes to studying them. Some are not as interesting, but are more valuable; others far superior when it comes to stimulating our brains but perhaps not viewed to be as relevant or important.

Obviously I'm talking about society's widespread views, here. But who decides what society thinks, and on a more personal level what does it mean if what you want to study is viewed to be redundant?

I have recently finished a degree in English Literature, as I have previously spoken about. I loved my degree; it stimulated my brain and made my love of literature grow. Through my degree I have learnt about history, society, and (most importantly, I feel) I have learnt about people. I feel like a better person for having studied what I did, because I feel able to analyse poetry and literature and plays. But is it a relevant skill to have in today's society? It would appear not.

Currently I am working, earning money for an MA place. I have already been offered a place in Sussex University, on a course entitled Sexual Dissidence in Literature and Culture. The contents of the course promises to teach me broadly about society's views of sexuality and gender throughout history, working these concts in alongside literature of the time. This course, for me, is like getting accepted at Slade or the RCA to study art. All I have wanted to focus on for years now is gender and sexuality in literature, so that I can further the research I need to do in order to gain funding for phD study.

What I ask now, is whether this course is relevant to our society today, or whether it is merely another waste of money which could be better used elsewhere.

Personally, I feel this course offers an opportunity to widen many people's minds on the concepts of sexuality and gender, which in turn can give those people the skills to widen many other minds through lecturing and publicised works of research. But I am aware that other people do not share my view, and see me as another job dodging student, seeking to study whatever I can in order to keep myself out of full-time employment for a little longer (an opinion I resent, considering I have been in employment since I was 17, and have never spent longer than 3 months without a job of some kind).

Am I right? Or are these faceless people? And, perhaps more importantly, does it even matter who is right? In today's world, where we can study anything from Event Management to Creative Writing, does it really invalidate one course any more than the other?

Perhaps the way we must view this, is that everything is worth studying if you have an interest in it. For after all, we have no idea where each step in our lives will take us. And thus, no course is more helpful to our futures than another. As long as we are all striving for knowledge in some form or another, striving to understand and educate and feel educated in turn.