As I was in the waiting room of the Doctors office I came across an article CNY Health Care Newspaper called “In Good Health”. In that article, I found an awful truth that justly deserves criticism and a solution that would legitimize the program as a needful subject worth keeping. A Doctor who once was a Julliard college graduate chose the medical field out of the necessity of making a living. Dr. Walter J. Kantor stated that only 1 to 2 % of Julliard graduates continue to perform in the arts 10 years after graduating which is most likely the case for many other Visual and Performing Arts majors nationally.
There was a community college president who had a degree in music, a federal VESID Counselor who had a degree in music, Emeril Lagasse who had a scholarship to go for music and decided on becoming a chef, a Hospice Doctor who has a degree in music, and many proud VPA graduates who get married and work out of their field.
Taking The Arts Seriously
The upsetting thing about this is how the government can take the arts seriously helping people save the music if this field is not taking the future of these students into account. Music is more than a course to appreciate due to the fact that all around us the arts entertain us in a multi-billion dollar industry that encourages customers to buy, try and learn about products advertised. The arts is a business that should be included in business schools everywhere. The fact is that many people fall in love with music, and want to do nothing but music for a living.
Music is not only winning the American Idol but to teach or record or promote. Music is a business as well as a course of education that would benefit both to form a great alliance in terms of helping these graduates be prepared enough to work in the field they are paying such an expensive school loan for. This is unfair since there are some free courses people can find online with the same subject matter or better yet go to the library. These futures of these undergraduates and graduates are sadly in the hands of people whose main concern seems to be the tuition money over the students. This is not only a dilemma of the arts but of academic courses as well.
Real World Experience Counts
Many employers look for real-world experience along with a degree in a field. Higher Education should not be waved as an important preparation for the real world as is by simply copying the same formula used in elementary school, middle school, high school, and continue it into college with a major. That is one thing I hate about the American education system due to the fact that the whole ‘well rounded ‘ excuse doesn’t seem to stop until the senior year in college. Then the happy graduates are confident and hopeful to pay off the school loan, then greeted by the real world critically who say “you should go back and take some more courses to help you get a job”. What a blow to everything one has been told about how education can help you as the dropouts laugh knowing that they have gotten ahead. Especially when your education cannot get you a job that high school graduates can get due to the fact that you are overqualified.
That ol’ saying”educated fool” is just the lemon juice, salt, and cayenne pepper into the wound. The American education system nationally should make it their mission to ensure that each student is given the courses as early as high school to make them suitable for good employment. It is not too much to ask that the courses paid for can help us in the near future. There isn’t a good reason why the real world courses couldn’t be taken within the four years of college as a mandatory minor in the fields of business, medical, or education. In Europe, students at the high school level are given the choice of training along with their classes in the fields of business, medical, and retail. This gives them a head start after graduation with four whole years of experience. Most office jobs require two years of experience. These skills should be included in high school and college to better prepare graduates from any concentration for a job in the real world.
From Entry Level To The Advanced Experience
If one were to start in high school all through college the graduates could have their entry level up to the advanced experience that would give them a good back up in case there were no jobs in their fields. The Departments of Education should look in the newspaper to see where the skills are needed and fulfill them by preparing each student for the world. In visual and performing arts programs the powers that be can legitimize the arts field as more than just an avenue to become the American Idol or Rock Star, but are respected field who cares to prepare their students for a job where they can make a living to pay the bills with a backup. Most desired is for the art students and graduates are better prepared to work in their field of business, education or even medical in terms of a music therapist.
No one should have to pay thousands of dollars for plain courses without much hope of using them in the real world. Let us be mindful of our student’s ‘future to brighten the path for all of us by utilizing the skills of those who truly want to learn, and truly want to help. Let us not cast away intelligent minds we need to make the world a better place for us all.
