Back to the grind – higher education, year 2

This blog was initially ment as a school related project, but I am a fickle person, it seems. There are so many other things that interests me, and expanding connections, ideas and thoughts simply seems more fitting to the blog format instead of a record of day-to-day minutiae.
Besides, I also use it as an experiment in how the Great Web works. They say “build it, and they will come” – meaning that likeminded people will eventually find my words and interesting things will happen. This is partly true, as I have done absolutely nothing to spread the word of my words, so to speak. And some good people have stopped by.

But back to school – I am now deeply in the clutches of the System, and it feels weird.
I have never been one for working in, or working well within large Systems. By systems I mean an organization, company or group consisting of more than ten people. That is when you begin to need serious administration, and that is when things gets bureaucratic, sticky and slow-moving. Creativity is lost, stifled or ignored by systems, and it is generally not an environment for spontaneity – the spice of life.
And larger systems seems to generate, spawn or hatch a certain type of system-person…

I did the mistake of volunteering for a job as a (computer) lab assistant for the new students. It has been four weeks of frustrations and thank god it’s over soon.
There are lots of reasons it is being frustrating of course, but I suspect that it is mainly for the system-generated-persons. I am a rebel at heart, and conforming to rules without reason doesn’t sit well with me. My instinct is to question why, and not given a satisfactory answer, I get frustrated and annoyed. I want reason. I want to know things are grounded on sensible thought processes. I don’t have to agree to the method, but I will not accept mindless conformity or faulty reasoning. The System Person is well fitted to the system, and have the abillity to talk gibberish and accepting and repeating all sorts of nonsense without missing a beat.
The world is dumb enough as it is. Establishments of higher education should not add to it.

And then, curiously, I was asked by my previous professor to assist in his course, and I accepted. This is a diffrent thing alltoghether, and even though I probably shouldn’t have accepted, as I have a large pile of books to read and understand, I think it will be fun. At least it is guaranteed to be the opposite of those first weeks. So I am actually looking forward to it. It will be as system-free as anything can be in an institution like this.
And that is what I have been looking for from the start.