I am a firm believer that any good education is (among other things) traumatic, disillusioning, and unfair.Regarding MFA programs, I remain powerfully ambivalent about them. Olive and I spent a good decade of mutually administered therapy decompressing and recovering from the many small wounds, disillusions, delusions and disservices we received while there, yet all the while, we never stopped uncovering new insights and invaluable experiences we'd acquired along the way. I suppose that an MFA Program is like any major life trauma in this way.
I agree I think that's what higher education is all about. The classes are a fraction of what you learn. The bullshit. The navigating through an antiquated system. The frustration. The moments you think you are going to die, whether it be put of frustration or stress or pure relief that x project is over.I am a firm believer that any good education is (among other things) traumatic, disillusioning, and unfair.
Good point, and interesting. In this respect, university is a bit like the military, (if reports are accurate), where the project is not the point of the project, but rather, learning to receive without thought the arbitrary structures and demands of the hierarchy, while being bonded to one's peers through the solidarity of suffering and trauma, is the point of the project. "This part isn't about the virus, is it? It's about obeying, about doing what you're told." James Cole, 12 Monkeys
I have a brighter view. When faced with a system that is complicated and unreasonable, you are challenged to get creative, and to make something better of it. Whereas the military has little tolerance for creativity, higher education often rewards it, or at the very least, tolerates it. In some ways, adversity is a gift, and ambivalence is a vacuum waiting to be filled. We step into a world of adversity and ambivalence. IMO a good education ought to reflect that.
Yep. Unfortunately, many students operate under the impression that the system should be designed to teach them the material in the most reasonable, efficient, and painless way possible. Of course, it might be useful if the world operated in a similar manner.