And the people in the houses, all went to the university, where they were put in boxes, and they came out all the same, and there’s doctors and lawyers, and business executives, and they’re all made out of ticky tacky, and they all look just the same.

I never thought I’d be saying it, but in 2015 students are playing it too safe.

I was in one of my classes talking about college with one of my friends and plotting our great escape from high school and something she said really scared me.

“I want to major in political science, but that’s guaranteed unemployment, so I’m majoring in nursing,” she said.

The most alarming fact about this is that she is not the exception, but the rule.

In the past, the rule was to go to college to pursue what you love and there were a few people who just played it safe. Now the rule is to play it safe and only a few people are pursuing what they truly love.

The sky now has a limit.

The desire of changing the world and following passions is being replaced by the easy answer and now we are turning into a generation of people put in boxes and who will come out all the same.

Students are being educated to be employed by someone else instead of being viewed as independent individuals who can make it on their own.

A crisis of creativity and innovation is imminent.

Engineering, computer science, math and sciences, business and agriculture and natural resources are reported to be the most successful fields according to the U.S. Census Bureau. I talked to many students and simply asked, “what do you want to major in at college?” and with the exception of two students, they all fell into the five fields provided.

Most of these fields composed the creative class. This group of people is responsible for creating new ideas, new technology and new content. They are 38 million strong and growing, but they are forecasted for failure.

Students are being taught how to do something in a very black and white fashion. There is more of a concern for teaching students how to treat the common flu by inserting a needle into an arm with a simple vaccine instead of inspiring them to think about how to cure cancer, build those hover cars we were promised by the Jetsons and overall push America into the future.

Students are uninspired and it’s showing.

The World Economic Forum ranks the United States 52nd in the quality of mathematics and science education, and 5th and declining in overall global competitiveness. Our faults used to be minimized by our constant stream of new ideas, but ideas are being crippled by the lack of creativity.

It is my firm belief that human ingenuity has not peaked. However, I do believe that by forcing students to deny pursuing what they love in the name of safety and simply teaching how instead of encouraging students to think on their own, we are set up for failure.

Time is limited and it shouldn’t be wasted living someone else’s life.

We are all made different because we all have something different to offer. The world is not black and white, there will not always be a correct answer to every problem.

Having enough courage to follow your heart and intuition should be a driving force behind what choices you make, not what is safe and easy.

Wake up everyday and do what you love, everything else is secondary.