Why Education is like Underwater Basket Weaving

This is an essay I wrote for my first year engineering seminar class I wanted to repost here. keep in mind it was written the day it was due with no editing so the logic is kinda rough.

Weaving with Ideas: My Philosophy of Higher Education

When you walked into your COEN 1500-823 class for the first time you were surprised to see me writing about underwater basket weaving on the whiteboard. One of my many flaws is a tendency to commit to bits long after they are funny or relevant at personal expense (hopefully this doesn't cost me a grade), and this essay was going to be an example of that. However, during bike rides, research (fun fact: Rutgers has an underwater basket weaving class), and the process of writing this I realized that I had come up with a pleasing metaphor that explained why I am here.

Underwater basket weaving is used as a pejorative term to describe a useless activity, which, from a very high level perspective on learning college is. I am spending an obscene amount of money to learn things that are available on youtube for free. You could argue that college professors' expertise is valuable, but with an average cost of over 1000 dollars per a credit hour it would be a lot more economical to pay a grad student 100 dollars an hour for tutoring sessions to fill in the gaps youtube videos miss. 

Going to college for a diploma to show employers is like weaving a basket underwater so you have a basket to bring to a picnic. Sure, it will look nice, but picnic goers and employers alike will be disappointed if there's no substance inside. The value is what you put into the basket. 

There are two aspects of this metaphor I would like to explore separately: the food you put into a picnic basket, and the time and effort spent becoming a master of underwater basket weaving.

What food is put into the basket of a diploma? Similar to how the picnic is external to the basket, there are many benefits of higher education that go beyond college coursework. I am planning to join several engineering clubs, talk to people about ideas I have never heard about, and utilize all of the resources campus offers to the best of my ability. 

Interning at Rule4 (a local cybersecurity firm) alongside college graduates and upperclassmen taught me that coursework and actual work is as similar as underwater basket weaving and enjoyable picnics. At best they are vaguely related and at worst there's zero similarity. 

A common sentiment among engineers is the idea that you can do anything with an engineering degree. It echoes my sports philosophy that everything is everything. Learning how to problem solve, how to weave while your fingers are prunes and your lungs are begging for air, is the same as learning how to solve a differential equation, or design a part in solidworks. 

Underwater basket weaving is not entirely useless. Immersing your whole body into the water isn't necessary but several materials need to be woven while wet (such as willow rods) and supposedly (the sources wikipedia cited no longer exist) certain American indigenous groups would immerse baskets in water while weaving. Neither is college coursework. Calculus, writing and other skills will correspond directly to the tasks and challenges I will face.

While I wouldn't pay 4 years tuition to underwater basket weaving I would show up to a class on it. Just like college it would be fun, educational, and help me develop the skills needed to develop the skills I really need. I am weaving a basket underwater because I believe doing so will help me weave a rug. I am getting an engineering degree because I believe learning to problem solve will help me do whatever I end up doing.

anyway, here’s a video about under water basket weaving!