The Student’s Wager

May 11, 2007, 11:47 am; posted by
Filed under Articles, MC-B  | 3 Comments

At 11:21 this morning, I turned in the last final of my sophomore year of college. It feels pretty good to finally be done and have summer looming before me with its promises of outdoor fun, a multitude of refreshing beverages and gainful employment. However, as I look back, successfully completing this year of college seems a bit hollow. Of the 76 or so years the average American male lives, twenty of mine will be eaten up preparing for the future (3 or so of daycare/preschool, K-12, 4 years of undergrad) — that’s over a quarter of the average without including graduate work!

Completing this year has reminded me that every college guy like me is gambling a rather large portion of his life on the idea that the other 75% of his life on Earth will be worth more to him with a college degree than the 25% he’s traded pursuing one, never mind the loans to repay. That’s a significant wager, and it would be rather frightening if it didn’t pay off.

Of course, I still have my ace in the hole. It will go well for me, even if I become destitute, live in a cardboard box, pick up a touch of the consumption, run up a huge hospital bill and die. I know where I’ll end up in the end, and once I’m there, the results of the earthly wager won’t matter so much. Not everyone has that security, though.

The liberal arts program at an average university teaches students they are better off relying on their own ability to provide for their own security, severely limited as it may be, than to rely on a nebulous concept like God for their needs. After all, if you can’t see Him, how can you trust Him? Students who accept this lie leave the university unarmed to fight with hope against the injustice the world runs on, which eventually leaves many disillusioned, bitter and depressed. Not to be too sentimental, but if in the next few weeks you could think about the students graduating this time of year and pray for them a little, they may appreciate it someday. I know I will; I might have to work with some of these people!

Also, if you could pray that I don’t live in a box, that’d be super too. Thanks.


Comments

3 Comments to “The Student’s Wager”

  1. Tom on May 11th, 2007 1:17 pm

    “And if it be thy will for McB to live in a box, please in your mercy let it be a really nice one. Like maybe one of those really big ones refrigerators come in, or maybe a modular deal made up of a few boxes, with maybe a mother-in-law apartment box over the garage box where I can crash for just a couple of weeks, you know, between jobs and wins at the track.”

  2. MC-B on May 11th, 2007 1:33 pm

    I’ll set up a guest box for you.

  3. Rose on May 14th, 2007 10:22 pm

    I thought, “This post could not possibly get any better.”

    And then I read the comments.

    Mike and Tom, you are two of the funniest boys I have ever met.

Leave a comment!