Summary Of What Are You Doing Here By Mark Edmundson

Matthew Hanson

CO 150-003

Nora Gordon

22 September, 2014 Originally published in the Oxford American in August 2011 is the essay “Who Are You and What Are You Doing Here?” and republished in Ethics in Higher Education; written by Mark Edmundson, a tenured Professor of English at the University of Virginia. In Edmundson’s essay he explores more than the thought that college is more than the beginning of a new life and a career in the end. Edmundson asserts his idea that students think going to college is just for academics and good grades that will land them a high paying job after graduation. This is simply not the case in the mind of Edmundson. College in his mind is more about the experiences that life has to offer. As he writes about college

The conversation is about going to college and what Edmundson is going to do with the rest of his life. This was a very important piece to include because this is a talk that every student goes through when getting ready for college. Especially if they are the first to go in their family like Edmundson. Also there comes the talk about what to concentrate on in college, what major should a student choose. Edmundson even states himself that, “I’m not really sure, but lawyers make pretty good money right?” (19). His father then “erupted” and lectured to Edmundson about if he’s going to go to college, that he’d better study something that he was interested in; not what makes the most money. When Edmundson chooses something he is interested in this is the start of his own journey. A key point all students should consider and a point Edmundson emphasizes himself, because he had to look back on this when writing his essay and was a deciding factor of his studies. Why do something if you are not interested in it? This is one thing that many students overlook when making decisions about their own future and why Edmundson empathizes creating a personal

There is no waiting to find out what happens. Living in a world where everything is wanted right away it complements the essay and the message well. Especially for the people that want to find information fast. An example of this is when Edmundson talks about new life experience and claims “In college, life is elsewhere. Life is at Parties, in music, with friends, in sports” and then goes on to say “students live in the future and not the present” (20). For this to be said it shows that if students would focus on what they are doing and not what is to come and only live for the end goal of their success. This gives the audience reason for what happened and why it happened. It makes the reader ask questions and think more about an idea while still suggesting to start a new