I agree that safe spaces are necessary, especially during a time when there is such political extremism. For example, a Muslim might truly benefit from having somewhere they can go to simply escape the negative assumptions made against them by strangers– which can sometimes even lead to death threats. But providing safe spaces can help anyone from any community feel safe. Why should they be just for babies? I can’t help but wonder how privileged some of the people protesting safe spaces must be if they can’t even imagine an adult who would truly want and benefit from it.

I actually wish that universities would make it mandatory for students to take a “how to network” class, and also offer opportunities for students to practice and get real networking skills! This actually benefits the university in the long run (hello being able to report that more students received jobs after graduation!) Everyone would be a winner!

This definitely makes me sad. It does give me hope to hear that they’ve essentially set up a mentoring program to keep high schoolers motivated to go to college. Rural america is definitely struggling and it will be a challenge to improve it.

Great post. I’m in also architecture and design fields, I agree with most of what you mentioned here. The funding models part is interesting particularly, I also believe that we should find an effective ways to collaborate internationally, it is not only required in our field but also all other field of studies.

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I agree. Many people spend most of his/her time working, I believe it is not only problem in academia, but also out of academia well. Although (sometime) I have no problem working late to complete a project depends on type of projects, but often working schedules required employees to work overtime more than they are willing to do. I strongly believe that we need to change this nature of working environment in and out of academia for the future.

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Very good question! I am also wondering how easy would be the switching between industry and academia. I know that in my major, it is very difficult to do so, and even if you can come back to the academia, you would be an assistant professor of practice, that I really don’t want to be.

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You mentioned very good point. I myself also is very shy and I am going to practice this for the next conference I am going to attend in April. Be prepared is something that can help people like me to network better.

Interesting post, thanks for sharing. I wonder what other solutions there could be for individuals from rural backgrounds? If the overall feeling there is “hopelessness”, then I wonder how they could even be encouraged enough to attend college or trade school where they could get a leg up in the job market?

I like how you say that kids play with almost anything because of their curiosity. That is how I am like, and that is why I enjoyed my undergraduate and graduate experiences. I was exposed to so many different subjects, and my curiosity kept me motivated.

I agree with the quote, “College is increasingly more of a gap period of socialization before young individuals join the real world.” I know some of the classes that I have taken that did not develop my intellectual capacity. It was just a checklist course and the professor knew that. We just showed up to class and did nothing. If all the courses were like that, college will just be a few years of socialization.