Ross, Menand, and Life

Last semester, I decided to help out my Intro to Political Theory Professor Mika LaVaque-Manty by attending his lecture to LSA alum for Michigan’s latest fundraising campaign.

President Coleman loved my professor's lecture!

As he expounded on Menand’s theories of education (the guy we just read about in class today) to all of the Michigan alum in attendance, I came to the conclusion that I’m a staunch Theory 2 advocate- that college isn't about filtering you into certain careers, but rather its purpose is to give you a set of tools you can pull from to adapt to any career you encounter later in life. During my Thanksgiving break, as I was explaining Menand’s and others’ ideas we’ve covered so far in Political Theory (not before eating some pumpkin pie of course), I realized how Theory 2 fits into my own life both today and later down the road. Allow me to explain.

My passion in life is business, and since my sophomore year of high school, my dream has been to attend the Ross School of Business here at Michigan, just like my dad did for his undergrad.

Me outside of Ross as a sophomore in high school.

I love everything about business. I frequently read the Wall Street Journal marketplace section in the morning, I’ve read a number of books on economics, and I study a lot of our great business leaders by reading books on them like “Steve Jobs.” I also talk to my dad everyday about what’s going on inside his own company and try to learn from him as much as I can. Yet, as pumped and dedicated as I am about business, the reality of my situation is that, while I hope Ross works out, it might not. But, by adhering to the tenets of Theory 2, either way I’ll be okay.

Specifically, Theory 2 suggests that college should be about the information itself that students are learning, and that this information will help them no matter what field they want to go into. In other words, Theory 2 is about creating educated citizens who learn how to think. From my perspective, whatever your career is, you learn the specifics of your career on the job. But if you know how to think and problem solve, it doesn’t really matter what the specific issues are, because you’ll have a good foundation to work from to solve whatever problems may arise. Applying this in my own pursuit of a business education, if I get into Ross, I’ll have the opportunity to better sharpen my business knowledge. But if I don’t, I’ll still know how to think and problem solve based on the wide range of courses I’ll take (and have taken) here at Michigan, and that will make all the difference in my life.

Now, although some out there may think I’m overly optimistic or just plain naive, I know that Theory 2 is the best way to go because, candidly, that’s the path my dad followed.

My dad and I on the Ross steps before the Michigan- Michigan State football game last year.

Initially, he thought the opposite of Theory 2, and went to business and then law school very focused on a specific career path. But then he got put into an environment when he was practicing law that actually believed in a liberal arts approach to law. So instead of letting him go into exactly what he wanted to do, which was corporate securities, he had to do a little of everything and ended up falling into something that he loved, which was environmental law. I think this is the point my Professor had been trying to make all along, because even though my dad was very business funneled and focused, that’s not what he ended up doing. He wouldn’t have preferred to have done a liberal arts approach from the beginning, but had he not been open minded about it (and he almost wasn’t), he never would have ended up in the career that he loves.

In the end, I don’t know what’s going to happen with my admission to Ross. Ultimately, you never know what’s going to happen. Ironically enough, after my Professor's special lecture that Friday, I happened to meet the very person I hope to work for later in life walking outside Angel Hall! Like I said, you never know what’s going to happen! What I do know is that I’ll try my best to get in, and stick to my concept that if things don’t work out, there are always different ways to get to the same place. As Theory 2 conveys, I’ll be open minded about my future, and know that learning to think is the best thing I can do for myself here at Michigan, Ross or not.