See ya later, Hillsdale College

As most of you know, I recently left my job at Hillsdale College to move on to other things such as money, women, power, and the occasional acid flashback (kidding). I intended to work there for 2 years which is exactly what I did. Now, this is the time where former employees burn bridges by lambasting former bosses, co-workers and/or the executives in the company, but as much as I think about it, I can't really complain about much and here's one reason why.

As a student, I thought I knew some glaring weaknesses that the school either chose to ignore or simply denied the existence of. After "working for the man" for a year, I learned many more weaknesses the school had. However, whenever I voiced my concerns in these areas, I found myself surprised that just about everyone that works for the school was fully aware of these issues and was just as concerned as me. Hillsdale is by no means a perfect college, but it is remarkably self-aware regardless of what bantering students (including me) may think.

I do have several good things to report about the school. I truly do believe that its students learn better stuff than the students of any other school in the Midwest. While the University of Michigan or Kalamazoo College or some of the other highly ranked colleges may have bright students that change the world, I think that Hillsdale students learn better because the environment of the place helps them understand the purpose of their education. Because of this, Hillsdale students tend not to float around lost for 4 years. ..... It does bother me, though, that many of these bright students end up working for think tanks instead of Wall Street, silicon valley, and other places where they can really make a difference. I dream of the day when I hear of a Hillsdale grad raising 40 million of venture capital to start up some cool new firm. I suppose that's my responsibility...... Moving along, if you throw in the fact that Hillsdale teaches in a conservative environment and all the "good" colleges in the Midwest are far off to the left (Oberlin, Kenyon, Michigan, MSU, Kalamazoo, Macalester, even Notre Dame and U of Chicago to some extent), then there really is no other choice for the household that wants a Midwest college for its child and doesn't want the status quo of academe which seems to be intolerent of folks who believe the "old way" of doing things still holds water. I do fear that the Hillsdale College employees who see this blog will look at the last sentence and wonder how I got through Freshman English. Well, I got an A- and B, so trust me, at one time, I was able to write.

Another good thing about the college. It has a TON of money. Calculated per student, Hillsdale's endowment is nearly twice that of any other college in the state of Michigan. This includes the University of Michigan's 7ish billion dollar endowment. The endowment is only going to go up as donors continue to pour in money. Hillsdale's sales pitch is pretty easy since almost no other college says the things we say. If a donor agrees with Hillsdale's message, there is nearly no competition and next thing you know, we have a new student union.

Next, "it's the people." That's the sign that greets comers on M99. I really can't describe how great the people there are, but let's just say I will be very lucky to meet and work with better people again in my life. The students there are a unique bunch, and they are pretty much all conservative, but the students there bring so many different personalities and experiences to the table, it's impossible to keep up.

I could go on, or maybe even edit my prose a bit to make it worthy of a Hillsdale College graduate, but I won't for two reasons. The first reason is, I majored in Economics and subsequently forgot most of the words I once knew. I was thinking a while ago and realized that I really only know about 30-40 words, so I can only write for so long. The second reason is, I'm headed to Buenos Aires in a couple days and I have a few final affairs to get in order. This is a blog after all, not an essay so why make it pretty? The bottom line is that despite its inevitable problems, attending Hillsdale College and working there were two of the best decisions I've ever made.

ok, there are my nice (and truthful, mind you) compliments - now GET A TENNIS TEAM