In Praise of Factory Education
Yes, I know the title is a bit #slatepitches. But I really mean it.
As some of you know, I work at the same college I graduated from almost 20 years ago. I did a lot of stuff in between, but I ended up back here, in part because I really believe in state provided education.
Twenty years ago the marketing of Keene State was pretty minimal. My decision to go to Keene State was based on the town of Plymouth (our rival college) seeming too depressing and the major NH university having a lot of people heading to it that I didn’t like. My parents basically told me that with my grades (my high school record was not exemplary) I should pick a state school and try to make a go. I choose Keene State, which seemed nice enough. That was it.
My sister, who was head of her high school class, had a different experience. She went on college tours to the Ivys, to MIT, corresponded with folks at Carnegie Mellon. Even back then they had plenty of glossy material to
