It is soooooo necessary to get the basic skills, because by the time you graduate, undergraduate or graduate, that field would have totally changed from your first day of school.

Steinberg’s remark stresses the durability of foundational competencies in contrast to the rapid obsolescence of specialized knowledge. By exaggerating “soooooo,” he underscores urgency: students should prioritize transferable basics—clear communication, critical thinking, numeracy, research habits, and ethical judgment—because industries, technologies, and best practices can shift dramatically over the span of a degree. The quote reflects a pragmatic, career-oriented view of education: schooling is less about mastering a fixed body of facts than about building adaptable skills that let graduates retool as their profession evolves. It also implies lifelong learning as a necessity rather than an option.