Summary Of Who Are You And What Are You Doing Here By Mark Edmundson

In the article “Who Are You and What Are You Doing Here?” The author, Mark Edmundson, writes about the American education system and why it’s so important that everyone fights for the chance to get the best education they can possibly receive . The author explains, when he was going to college his father told him to study whatever he wants and not what he thinks he should study. Edmundson’s father just wanted his children to be happy and to understand that it doesn 't matter what others say or think, Edmundson should follow his own dreams. Americans value money and power; and if a student risks being someone who they are not, they are only going to hurt themselves. If students don’t fight for their education, then they lose the value of college, …show more content…
In American culture, if people don 't have those things, then they are seen as failures. To avoid being a failure, most people are willing to do whatever it takes to become “successful”. The author also states that the American college student focuses more on the social aspect of college rather than the education part. Edmundson believes that students no longer take their grades seriously which can lead to professors not caring enough to put forth effort into their jobs. The thought of failure drives people to do things that maybe they wouldn’t do if they thought they would succeed, like cheating on a test. The author mentions that students may think that if the professor doesn 't care enough to make a new test each year, then its okay to cheat on it, but in reality the student is only hurting themselves in the process. Edmundson recalls a time when a friend caught the nephew of an Arab government official cheating, black limousines filled with men in black suites, came to intimidate the professor into taking back the accusation. The professor did not fold under pressure, but sometimes colleges look the other way in order to keep the students happy. Those students could become potential donors in the …show more content…
However, those same people find that they only end up struggling even more in the future. By the time students get to college they will have already heard what other people want them to be, but this could make the student lose sight of who they are. Edmundson writes, it’s respectable for a person to believe in the morals that their mother and father taught them, but it’s also respectable to follow their own path. It’s possible that students may not even know who they are yet. College is the time for that person to find them self, and decide what their own morals are. At the end of the day whatever that person decides to do, they have to live with their decisions; which at times can be hard, but also very rewarding. The author gives an example of a struggling student who teaches young children and loves what he does, even though he is barely making ends meet. The student may not be rich, but his work is meaningful, and he finds that his soul is filled with passion for what he