The Student of our times

After soaking in the warm gentle sun (72o F) for an hour on the picturesque waterfront of Charleston, South Carolina, my family and I, on our much needed thanksgiving break, wandered into the Old Exchange and Provost Dungeon, a cramped, but must-see site which was used as a prison for American Patriots held by the British during the revolutionary war. We made our way to the ticket counter, where the nice lady patiently explained the historic location and gave us a rundown on the ticket prices. At $10 a person, she told us we would get a discount if any of us had a military background or were a student and had the relevant id card. When she mentioned the student discount, she assumed and looked at my two daughters, who, in turn, was looking at me with bemusement. Much to the lady’s astonishment, I produced my student identity card. The lady looked at it carefully, presumably to make sure it was indeed a student id and not some senior discount card. Having convinced herself that this was a genuine id, with some doubt, she proceeded to give me a humble student discount of $ 2 off my ticket. Meanwhile, I was literally gloating with my newfound status of a student and the privileges it brings, however small, and my two daughters were dawning to the fact that their old man could be milked not just for his credit card, but for student discounts too…and my wife was looking at me proudly, rejoicing in the fact that her husband had found his ‘pretend’ youth once again.

At that moment, my transformation felt complete. No longer was I this corporate honcho. I was a legitimate student, albeit a 60-year old one! I felt liberated.

A few days later, I had to meet someone at the Columbia University library, and I attended the meeting still in my pajama top, sneakers, unshaved…seriously. Nobody looked at me twice, perhaps because, despite my disheveled attire, I was maybe still the best-dressed person there. I had no longing to get into the suit, no compulsion to shave and apply aftershave, cologne, shoe polish and rest of the stuff that goes with the corporate uniform. Not even business casual, I am now on casual-casual, in other words, real student casual

On a more serious note, my identity switching also allowed me to reflect on the student identity at a deeper level. As I interacted with the twenty-somethings and saw and heard life from their side, I was drawn into a world that I had not bargained for. My assumptions about what it was to be a student in the modern era were all turned upside down. My understanding of the student world was that of the carefree, half-bohemian person who is intent on learning and making a mark in the world. Outwardly this understanding was not wrong; what was wrong was that this was incomplete- with no appreciation for the inner turmoil many of them were going through.

Here is what I learned: A student’s education and life are a confluence of contradictions. On the one hand, they hear the ‘inspiring’ speeches at orientation or commencement that urge them to reach for the stars, take risks, dream big, contribute meaningfully, seek purpose, pursue happiness and fulfillment, embrace learning, etc.; while, on the other hand, they face a pile of student debt that enslaves them for a better part of their future as well as pressure to find the right job with the right fit for the right amount of compensation. Further,  they hear from returning alumni about toxic work cultures (medical students who have become residents speak of 30 hour shifts for months at end, consultants talk about 80 hour work weeks, others speak about customer pressures, boss pressures, restructuring pressures and so on), they hear of lack of social affiliations and connections that make life hallow, visa uncertainties (if they are foreign students) and so on. It is clear many of them have come from far more structured and even protected backgrounds. To be suddenly thrown into the maze of confusion creates an inner conflict between the ideal self and the practical self, the intellectual self, and the emotional self, between fending for the short term and dreaming the long run, between relationships and loneliness, and between possibilities and practicalities. It is a hard cross to bear for many of them. No wonder I see students hungry to lap up any course on happiness or mindfulness, join soul-cycle, cross-fit, and other interest cohorts propagated by Instagram celebrities who seem to have figured it all out. Anything to navigate a liquid and a constantly-in-flux, untethered existence.

Our educational institutions prepare (or supposedly prepare) students for a living, but do they prepare people for life? Should they? Increasingly, for instance, I am told that MBA schools are becoming recruitment centers and less as centers for academic preparation for corporate careers. Even in premier institutions, the second year is pretty much a string of job interviews, day in day out. Are we confining academic institutions to skill making machines ready for market consumption, or are they to fulfill a more profound purpose- one of creating a generation of leaders who make the world better? Skill making is essential, but not enough; soul-making is more critical. Unfortunately, not many institutions can address that, but I believe educational institutions can.

In short, my initial impression about student life as being one of a daring adventure, do-as-you-please, go-on-the-path-to-become-a-better-you, has been tempered. Maybe I see the world through a colored lens, colored by my battle scars. Perhaps it is unfair on my part to characterize this world in such a dark way.

Actually, on the contrary, I am hopeful even excited, I am grateful- because, despite the undercurrents of uncertainty and turmoil, despite the heaviness of life we have handed to them, these are the very people that still forge ahead- grinding their way through all of it. Maybe it’s their naivete; it's perhaps their confidence- they brush through these issues with energy, enthusiasm, and an eagerness that is inspiring. They make the opportunity; they create the environment; they stand facing the melancholy with determination and resolve. Yes- I am inspired by them. They are ready to take on the hero’s journey. While I despair at the world they are in; I am hopeful of the world they will create.

My generation has done this upcoming generation a disservice. We have left them a world that many would consider materially better, perhaps, though morally worse from our times. We need this generation to reverse that. And as I try and mingle with them to learn their world, I see darkness around them, but enough light in them to forge ahead and make the world a better place for all of us.

As I walk in the Millennial/ Gen Z shoes as a student but wear a boomer hat, I empathize with their present, and hope for their future, because, cliched though it may sound, they are our future.