You Don't Have to Go to University!

The above heading basically sums up what I want to say in this article: If you do want to go to University, then by all means go (I don't wish to put you off in the slightest), but if you don't, you really don't have to, because as far as learning goes this can happen at least as well outside of any institutions, as in them.

The Problems with University
The idea behind University is, I think, a good one: somewhere with resources and experienced teachers who can help people who want to learn. But even if this was the original intention, few people would say that this is what Universities do these days.

I think the real problem lies with the qualifications. Qualifications shift the aim from studying a subject to studying how to gain a qualification in a subject. Exams have to be introduced, people need to be tested, examiners have to be pleased and conformity becomes the main thing learnt. 
This is not enjoyable learning, led by inspiration, inclination, or natural enthusiasm, it is rigid learning (if learning it can be called) led by the system, the courses, and the teachers. 
Somebody might write as well as Jane Austen, but if their essay is too short they will fail the test; somebody might have disproved a scientific theory, but if they don't write what they are supposed to write, they will fail the test; somebody might not agree with the opinion they are asked to express, but if they don't put their own feelings aside, they will fail the test. In other words, if somebody allows too much honesty, originality, or creativity to enter their work, they will fail the test. This is not really any one person's fault, it is simply the inevitable result of having tests and exams as part of education.

Of course if learning isn't the sole aim, then the fact that Universities award qualifications doesn't pose a problem.

What is the Aim?
If to get a qualification is the aim, then obviously it is a good idea to go to University. 

If to experience the social life that University offers is the aim, then again, University is the best option.

But if learning is the aim, then studying at home will probably take you to this destination much more pleasurably and quickly than any other route.

If enjoyment is the aim, then this is much more likely to be achieved outside of University than in it. In fact, having to study a subject you love with tutors, tests, and essays, might well put you off the subject for life, and if it does, you won't be the first this has happened to.

When learning becomes the aim, then anyone or anything which aids this goal, can be welcomed and used to the full. Maybe in some cases a University course would do just this, and if so, one shouldn't hesitate to go on one if one can. But I think that most people find, as I have done, that once learning becomes the aim, Universities almost automatically discount themselves.

The musicians I admire the most happen to be ones who don't teach in Universities, and the ones who do, don't seem to enjoy it. The artists I admire the most have not been awarded art degrees, and the ones I consider to be pretty dreadful, have. People with a real passion for a subject, tend not to be the ones teaching it in an institution, because they wouldn't want to conform to the curriculum, they tend to be the ones who are busy doing what they love most, and are always happy to teach someone else.

So when learning becomes the aim, it is surprising how what one needs in the way of books and teachers can be found outside of Universities, and learning can really happen without the stress and worry of exams, criticism, and fear of failure.

Studying at home
With the internet, good books, the aid of people you meet and can talk to, courses, classes, practical experience, and above all one's own keen desire, there is no limit to the amount a self-motivated person can learn. On the internet can be found legal documents, classic works of literature, how to play any instrument, or learn any language, gardening sites, recipe sites, poetry sites, history sites, sites about a particular historical figure or event, and millions of pictures. Books can also be ordered on it, and through books even more can be learnt than through the internet, due to their easier, more portable, format.

In Home University a degree is obviously not awarded at the end, but what you will be gaining in the way of genuine skills are sure to be of far more use to you.

How to study at home
At Home University, one doesn't have to be restricted to a couple of subjects; one has enough time to create a good balance between everything one enjoys doing most, as well as all those skills necessary for living in the real world.
Skills like cooking, gardening, making things, mending things, and knowing how to paint and draw, speak another language, and play an instrument.

How and what is actually studied, is really up to the person doing it. What you are doing might feel like too much fun to be considered as proper learning, but it must be remembered that learning is fun; if what you are doing isn't fun then it definitely isn't learning either!

If you have been home educated, then you will know how to study at home, if you are new to this you may feel a little daunted. On this Home University section we are putting more and more subjects on-line which should help people get started. At the moment there is Art, Learning Languages, Roman History, Acting and Music. How much time one spends studying a subject, is something which is probably different with every person. I certainly don't consider Home University to be something which ever really finishes, because once an interest is ignited there is no need for it to ever go out - it is not as if one will ever fully know a subject, the more one lives the more one learns!

Schools and Universities have succeeded in giving learning a strange reputation which makes it out to be difficult, hard work. I have never found learning to be this way. If I want to learn something, whether it be a computer program or an instrument, I will do it with an enthusiasm which makes me bounce out of bed in the morning, because I want to get started straight away - and for a few days I will do little else. I think people's timing must be wrong if they find learning hard work, their interest must be in something other than what they are doing, otherwise they would not find it difficult.

When one is learning with enthusiasm, it is much more time-efficient, because one learns ten times as fast. What might take a disinterested person a year to cover, can be gone through in a matter of days. This means one can really crack through the subjects  and study all sorts of interesting things in the time that one has.

Higher education and home educators
Home-educated children often feel even more obliged to take exams, go to University etc. than other young people, but perhaps they are the ones who oughtn't to the most (unless they want to). After having experienced the freedom of true learning, it is sad to return to the shackles of doing what one is told, especially when it is done just to oblige friends and relatives. Home-educated young people may feel like failures if they don't fit in or do well at University, but this can also be seen as a success: it simply means they have become too honest, too uncompromising in their morals, too individual, too creative, and too advanced in understanding for the modern education system. For those who want a degree, I am sure they can use the same attributes to pass the exams, but when the motivation comes from family and not from oneself, it becomes difficult to do at all well on University's terms. This makes studying at home a particularly ideal option for home educators.

Conclusion
In conclusion, I have to say that Studying at Home is a thoroughly enjoyable option which anyone of any age can do. Does it end in a secure job? Well, does anything? A job does seem to be creating itself out of my studying: I have now illustrated six books, and I help produce two magazines, - I think working in a subject follows naturally on from doing it for pleasure. But what is more important, is that studying at home has allowed me to grow in understanding in a way that would not have been possible at University. I feel that I learn more as every day goes by, and I also have the chance to simply appreciate the world around me. Obviously, never having been to University, I don't know what I am missing out on, but I know that if I was at university I would be missing out on a lot going on at home!

It has been and still is very enjoyable and I am sure it is an option which will increase in popularity as the years go by. For those who have been to school, it is guaranteed to bring all the pleasure, excitement, and enthusiasm back into learning, and for those who have not, it simply continues the enjoyment for a few more years.

-Wendy-

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