I disagree with Dave Ellis.

In my first post I mention that I am reading a book called “Becoming a Master Student” by Dave Ellis as preparation for returning to school. This book was recommended by a friend of Roommate #1. This friend (henceforth referred to as ML) is a PHD and a teacher, so her opinions are highly respected by both Roommate #1 and I. ML told me that the book is full of tips on studying, taking notes, and exercises to evaluation my personal style of learning.

I bought a used copy of the book on Amazon.com and have been slowly reading through it and doing the exercises. So far it seems helpful, even if there is—in my opinion— an inordinate amount of importance placed on networking and physical health.

I have a little problem with some of the metaphors used in the book. On Page 22 of the 12th edition, there is a large header that demands you should “Discover What You Want”. Here is an excerpt:

Imagine a person who walks up to a counter at the airport to buy a plane ticket for his next vacation. "Just give me a ticket," he says to the reservation agent. "Anywhere will do."

The agent stares at him in disbelief. "I’m sorry sir," he replies. "I need some more details. Just minor things—such as the name of your destination city and your arrival and departure dates."

"Oh, I’m not fussy,” says the would be vacationer. "I just want to get away. You choose for me."

Compare this with another traveler who walks up to the counter and says, "I'd like a ticket to Ixtapa, Mexico, departing on Saturday, March 23 and returning Sunday, April 7.Please give me a window seat, first class, with vegetarian meals."

Now, ask yourself which traveler is more likely to end up with a vacation that he'll enjoy.

Obviously Mr. Ellis wants you to look at this absurd example and come to the conclusion that the traveler who has their trip planned out to the type of meal they’re going to eat is going to have the better time.

The problem I have with this example is that even if your trip is meticulously planned out things can still go wrong. Perhaps the indecisive traveler is sent to India and discovers a love of curry and Bollywood movies. Perhaps the traveler who arrives in Mexico gets violently ill upon exiting the plane and spends their entire trip in the hospital. There are too many factors to take into consideration. A plan will only get you so far. It’s not a magical button that will make everything work in your favor.

Roommate #1 is a creature of habit. We often go out to eat together, and more often than not she chooses a meal that she’s already eaten. Roommate #1 is the second traveler. She goes out with a firm idea of what she wants to eat, buys what she has eaten before and knows she enjoys, and misses out on discovering new things.

I never have a firm plan on what I want to eat when we go out. I have tried things that I’ve hated and never eaten again, but then I have tried things that I absolutely love.

Planning out exactly what you’re going to do when you leave the house removes the element of discovery, which is rather ironic given the title of this chapter. Mr. Ellis doesn’t want you to discover anything.

Roommate #1 has a bachelor’s degree in social sciences. She wanted to be a teacher at one point in her life. She never became a teacher. She’s now working towards her CPA. Even with her precise planning, that lead her to the bachelor’s degree, she didn’t the destination that she had wanted.

I don’t know what I want to be “when I grow up”. I don’t have a long-term plan for school. In the short term I am getting a certificate of specialization in office assistance, so that I can put it on my resume and rightfully claim that I have had some college. In the slightly less short-term, I am planning on getting an associate’s degree in business administration, so that can go on my resume instead of the certificate. But I don’t want to spend my life in an office. I don’t want to be in my 50’s, answering phones for some faceless company that doesn’t give two shits about me.

Would I be better off if I had an ultimate plan as to what I wanted to spend my life doing?

Would Roommate #1 be better off as a teacher instead of a budding accountant? After all,
she never planned on taking the CPA exam.

There’s no way of knowing because there are far too many variables for Dave Ellis’ example to be effective in real life.

I realize that I’m blowing this out of proportion. It’s one small metaphor in a very large book that is proving to be very useful. But it bothers me because I’m not the type of person who always has a plan.

This isn’t going to stop me from using the book. Becoming a Master Student does have a wealth of information that will help ease the anxieties I have about returning to school and help me in areas that I find myself lacking. But I’m going to allow myself to change my mind if necessary. I’m not going to finish a degree in Business Administration if I hate it, simply because that’s what I had planned. Because I understand that human beings are malleable and don’t always like to stay in the same old shape into which they’ve been molded.