The Real World is not Ideal

Since my university experience is going on about five weeks now, I haven’t had much variety for “Inventing the University” in the different papers I have written for professors. Of course, there are distinct differences between my papers for my Physics class and this Methods in Tutoring course, but my first real experience with having to learn how to mold my writing for the subject concerning it probably occurred within my high school years. My senior year in high school, I was taking about six different AP courses that required different types of writing for each subject. Whereas Art History and Psychology focused on short, concise arguments that painted the concept being asked about in a detailed manner, my English class required personal analysis with eloquent, academic writing. In every class that I attended, I had to, metaphorically, “put on a new hat” that matched the discipline I was studying. It didn’t matter what I really wanted to say on the subject, all I had to do was give the readers what they wanted. This knowing of a writer’s audience is, perhaps, the single most important point in developing good writing skills, in my mind. Even within this individual class, I write differently for blogs than I do for my reading responses. This ability to adapt to the situations in different classrooms comes more naturally to some people than it does for others, but in order to succeed at a university level, it is pivotal that all students learn how to utilize these skills in their specific discipline.
In my mind, I think that it isn’t necessarily fair for students to be expected to automatically know how to speak like an expert in their fields. Since there are no specific classes that focus on learning how to write a good paper, it is outrageous to expect that every student will be able to intuitively know how to succeed in college papers. Different people have different skills that they excel at, and because of this, it is inherently unjust for teachers to lump all students into a general category of writing and judge them against each other. However, although this system of creating set standards for students no matter what their individual interests are is ultimately unfair, it is still necessary. Writing is a huge part of any discipline, even if students don’t think so when they first begin their studies. Along with this idea, each discipline carries with it conventions and certain marks that define it as uniquely relating to its respective field. This makes it important for students, no matter their individual background, to understand what is expected of them and what measures they should take to ensure that they can succeed. To make sure that students are learning these conventions, professors do have to set up a certain grading system that will measure whether or not their students are attempting an academic sounding paper. However, I do think that certain guidelines should be set in place for students who might not find writing as natural as their peers.
Individuality should not be lost, but unfortunately, in the education system we have today, it is necessary that students sometimes learn things that are uncomfortable for them. Ideally, it is unfair that classrooms measure students in the same way as their fellows no matter their individual skills or interests. In the real world, sadly, students will have to be compared against others of their discipline and thus have to learn a way to “invent the university” like everybody else.