There’s an app for that! How often do we enthusiastically exchange these words knowing all the glory that comes with having solutions at our fingertips? I mean, this is fairly awesome. I’ve been recently fascinated by the multiple apps devoted to citing sources for you, in which you only have to scan the barcode of the book you’re using and voila! You have citations in MLA, APA or Chicago (EasyHarvard and Easybib are the apps to name a couple).
This is great because we often like to point out that if anything is tedious, we will “never ever use it again in our lives,” and if there’s a way to make useless time-consuming things shorter, we’re all about it. So your assignment’s done; you didn’t even have to think about it and in return your professor will award you with points and you’re that much closer to completing the extensive task list for the semester, rah rah hooray. So, consider this:
Education is expensive, so what are you paying for? What is college really about? We are busy beings; fast food, fast money and fast answers are all our friends. Between work, social events, social media, internships and at some point getting to our classes, it is in our best interest to be resourceful and allocate our time wisely. Afterall, college gives us the awesome experience of embracing a whole lifestyle, not just moments inside the classroom.
Forced to juggle, it’s no wonder most of us marvel at these shortcuts. The word “shortcuts” is a good representation of the counterargument – that using technology means avoiding the actual workload. I myself wondered if for the sake of saving time I was cheating myself, then recognized that it is not just the information we are required to learn, but the skills that come from the learning process that make college what it is. Though this is not documented as a graduation requirement, resourcefulness is nonetheless a product of the process.
“I don’t think I’m cheating myself; I find apps very useful, especially now since technology does play such a big role in our lives,” Berenice Guzman (junior, Communication Studies) said.
Our planned college curriculum and methods we use to complete it go hand in hand, and with or without technology, we as humans look to maximize and prioritize.
“Since I’m in 16 units, I would rather do it the fastest and most efficient way,” Tiffany Freitas (sophomore, Communication Studies) said. “When we have so many papers to write, something like that is really handy.”
Whether or not we will ever use the quadratic formula in our careers as advertisers or regurgitate the process of photosynthesis as nurses, we met the requirement when we needed to through whatever means we needed to. What is college teaching us? That we need to meet deadlines by any means necessary and get the thumbs up? Hey, this isn’t a bad lesson; we are preparing ourselves for a fast-paced world.
Don’t get me wrong, there are courses that will require more attention and be absolutely pertinent to the future, but in the grand scheme of things, we search for a way to get the job done.
We are urged to follow our passion, to pick the major that most satisfies us. In order to enjoy the ride, though, we look for ways in which we can get through less enjoyable demands.
