The word “college” used to be British slang for “prison.”
Why would this be? What is the connection between the meanings of these words?
“College” started out meaning
a group of people chosen to work together. This is why the word, “colleague” means someone I work with or is in my same field. Similarly, a “collection” means a group, just as “collage” does.
“Prison” started out meaning
to take; therefore a prisoner was someone taken captive, usually in war, i.e., prisoner of war.
Here's possibly how British slang for someone taken captive became today's use of an educational institution.
The goal of most colleges is to train workers for public and private industry and the goal of most students is to go to college to get a better job. Nobody's focused on sustainability - the sustainability of the individuality in the individual.
A college could equate to a prison if it takes me away from remaining free in my thinking as I was when I was born – free to be me and free to learn all it takes to be the best combination of humanity and spirituality.
Make no mistake. I got what I bargained for. I got educated. I volunteered and made arrangements to pursue the path to a better life and was taken captive (sorta like Pinocchio). I became a prisoner of society by degrees stamped into my psyche.
Nothing outside of me will rescue me from myself. I must realign myself. I must reorient my thinking. I can begin by asking, “Am I in a college prison of thinking?” This means, “ Am I choosing to allow my thinking to work for someone else? Does the way I think, take me away from my true purpose(s) and the best uses of my talents? “Even though I can do this work and am good at it, was I born to do it?”
My divine potential does not have to conform to society's limited view of who I am, what I am capable of and why I am here.
Every educational, religious or other pursuit that does not help bring this forth is a college and a prison.
