In his column of May 14, Sam Smith, writing about high school athlete Kevin Garnett’s decision to ignore college to opt to enter the NBA draft, declared that he “has made himself a millionaire. And isn’t that the goal of getting an education?”
No, Mr. Smith, monetary reward is not the goal of education, although it may well accompany it. Perhaps you were being ironic, but the sentiment sounds like that of the majority of my students who see education as a means of “getting a decent job.”
If the goal of education is becoming a millionaire, then my education and that of millions of others are a dismal failure. As a university professor, I suppose I have what might be described as a “decent” job. But after 45 years of research and teaching, I am not a millionaire. My annual salary has never approached six figures.
But I do not consider my education a failure. For me, the goal of education is to free me from the bondage of innate ignorance and show me my culture, history and philosophy and that of other peoples. I dare say the NBA, for all its millions, will not provide Mr. Garnett with this prized possession.
