The Idea of a University / Learning in the Key of Life

John Henry Newman's "The Idea of a University" did
not really appeal to me, although I did like some of
what he said. I think I agree with him that the point
of coming to a university is to learn. Now people come
just to party or with the hope that it will make them
make more money when they get out into the real world.
But for me the real motivation to come to college is
intrinsic. It's just to learn, because I love to
learn.

I really enjoyed Jon Spayde's "Learning in the Key of
Life." We really limit ourselves when we take on the
mindset that we can only learn in school, because then
when we are not in school anymore we essentially close
our minds. But the world has so much more to teach us
than just what we can learn in a university. My
favorite part of the essay was where he addressed
intrinsic motivation to read and to learn as opposed
to extrinsic motivation. "...rattling from book to
book, looking for connections and grandly unconcerned
about whether we've read 'enough,' as long as we read
what we read with love." Sounds like the perfect life
to me. I think we just need to open our minds to the
possibility that we can learn all the time, and then
we can do it.