<Author>GC</Author>
<Nationality>USA</Nationality>
<Gender>Male</Gender>
<Age>41</Age>
<First language>English</First language>
<Other foreign languages in decreasing order of proficiency>French</Other foreign languages in decreasing order of proficiency>
<Last degree>MA</Last degree>
<Years of staying in China>6months</Years of staying in China>
<Topic>1</Topic>
I have heard educators complain that our students today only want one thing C success, and these students see a job with an impressive starting salary as the road to success.  University teachers express a desire for their students to want to learn for the sake of learning, to be fascinated with subject matter which may not seem to have an immediate correlation with the students desired occupation.  The students, on the other hand, want a diploma which will open the door to the real world that educators often dangle in front of them, just out of reach.  What these educators forget is that they, too, once pursued an education in order to gain that same goal, a job in a chosen profession.  So, what changed to cause the educator to suddenly see education as more than a means to a career? I believe that the difference is a matter of maturity.
When I was in high school, everyone always asked what I wanted to be when I grew up.  This is a question that I asked my own children as they aged, and it is the same question that I ask my freshmen each year.  What career have you chosen?  How do you plan to use your degree in your chosen profession?  We do not ask students why they want to learn, what they want to learn, or what their intellectual interests are.  Our University system is organized in such a way that a student chooses his or her courses according to what profession he/she plans to enter upon graduation.  There is little room in our curriculum for the student to experiment with other ideas or take courses for the sake of learning something new or interesting.  Clearly established courses of study prevent students from seeing education as an adventure into unlimited possibilities.  There is never enough time or money for the student who wishes to take courses that are not listed in the curricular plan, and most are more interested in graduating quickly than in staying around to take unnecessary courses.
After graduation, college students enter the work force.  It usually takes them a while to become comfortable with the demands of the new career.  They feel both highly qualified and grossly unprepared.  Some may immediately see the need for further coursework, but few would say at this point that they have the desire to become lifelong learners.  They are ready to get started on a career path, and most see education as a thing of the past. The college graduate does not generally equate on-the-job training with education, and he probably doesnt think about all he is learning through his experiences on the job as education, either.  He is through with education C now, he is on his way.
So, when does this same college graduate become the one who sees education as a lifelong process?  This change comes only with time and experience.  The world teaches the college graduate that he has only just begun to learn all that he needs to know, or he realizes that there is much more that he desires to know. Perhaps he becomes passionate about a certain subject, ideology, or philosophy.  Maybe he is faced with a problem he cannot solve or a question he cannot answer.  Through research, trial and error, and experience, the problem is solved or the question is answered, and then, the student becomes a lifelong learner.  He now realizes that he will never know everything that he wants to know, that he will spend a lifetime seeking knowledge.  He is now the mature learner, not the job seeker.