Recent events in the Winona community have been a source of great concern to me when it comes to the future of the next generation’s higher educational needs. Much controversy was raised over the signing of a local high school student to a college football team. While I am not versed in football, as an ongoing college student I feel as though my opinions towards higher education are validated in the time spent and experience gained from my pursuit for higher education. As a child of Ole Miss Rebels and a niece to Mississippi State Bulldog fans, the last thing I cared about when choosing where to pursue my degree was what colors the team bled. My main concern was, which school fits my needs and wants and which school would provide the most suited education for me.
As a lifelong Mississippian who has moved around the state top to bottom, I think one of the most needlessly divisive topics is what college football or baseball team you support. When this divisiveness is in jest and fun, all is well. However, when this divisiveness begins to affect children's needs and wants when it comes to their higher education, I begin to see a problem.
To clarify, I have pursued degrees from three different institutions in the past five or so years. Each of these institutions was hand picked by me to suit my needs and wants. While I may have dreamt big as a teen, wishing to attend James Madison University in Virginia for its renowned Psychology program, I also knew I needed to be realistic. How I chose my schools was based simply on three qualifiers: the cost, the curriculum, and the “fit”.
As college debt is an ever impending issue, my first concern for school was: what could I afford? With scholarship and grants, this may be a non-issue for some, however it is always important to prepare for your future, or your child’s future, by seriously considering the cost of schooling. Everything from tuition to rent to groceries, or any costs associated with becoming a budding adult.
The next concern is the curriculum offered. It’s extremely important that upcoming college applicants assess the curriculum, the majors and minors, offered at their choice schools. Some schools offer more classes for different subjects. For example: The University of Mississippi is well known for its science, health science, and engineering majors; The University of Southern Mississippi has excellent business management and elementary education programs; and Mississippi State University offers great veterinary medicine and agriculture programs. Each school may serve different students specific educational wants or needs.
Finally, my last concern was how the school “fit” me. This encompassed everything else about the school from location or distance from home to the campus life and class size. As someone who was much more focused on books than athletics, the athletics programs and extra curricular activities offered also fell into this category for me. While within this category some aspects may weigh heavier than others, as it is a broad category, I felt that these would affect my future far less than the aforementioned qualifications.
Nowhere on my list, as a student feeling overwhelmed by the prospects of leaving home and pursuing a degree which could result in a lifelong debt, did I worry for what colors represented the school or what team played for it. As a state that is ranked as 49th in overall education, I believe there are more important things Mississippians should be worrying about besides sports teams.
