My Beef with College (1219 hits)
Category: NoneRating: 1.57 on 36 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Phoenix <volklcess.at.aol.com> (View user info) at 2004-03-23 15:24:50 EST
I guess in my nearly 22 years I've been alive, I can say I've finally learned that the mistakes you make are supposed to teach you, not be a detriment to you. Of course, I didn't just now become rich with this knowledge, but I don't think I really appreciated it until now. Being a person who's made a lot of dumb decisions in her lifetime, I feel confident that I've actually become a better person because of them.
I wish I hadn't gone into college right after high school. I took my summer break like any other and when August rolled around, I was moving boxes into an unfamiliar space to live with an unfamiliar person surrounded all around by unfamiliar faces. The college applications I'd filled out required that we put in a major, as if 17 and 18 year olds really have any idea what they want to do with their life. I was a journalism major. I tossed around the idea of being an English major, but the options for careers seemed limited - I liked to write, I wouldn't mind making a living off of it - journalism seemed like the right course to take.
So here I was, a freshman in college, not even 18 years old yet, pushing away those annoyingly persistent doubts of whether or not I really wanted to be a journalism major, and convinced that I had everything figured out. I'd do my four years of college, get that piece of paper, and go on to become a world renowned journalist. Oh, yes, I knew everything there was to know. I, of course, was a brilliant, know-it-all, 17-year old girl.
My first day of biology, I walked into a massive lecture hall. Our high school teachers had tried to prep us for how much bigger college was than high school, but this. This was just plain culture shock. I graduated from a small town high school - there were 83 people in my graduating class and only 450 in the entire school, and here I was in one class with 450 people. I found that apart from English, the same story was true of my other 100 level classes, and this arose thoughts that will strike a familiar chord with anyone who's been a college freshman at some point in their life: "If the class is so big the teacher won't notice if I don't go. I could get a passing grade by just showing up on days we have exams..." And thus began my great downfall with college.
Any of this nonsense of my inner demons talking me out of going to class could've been warded off simply with a little bit of will power, but the fact of the matter was that I was just too immature to care about the intellectual side college had to offer. My college days were spent passed out on friend's couches, passed out in various dorms rooms, passed out on the floor in front of my dorm door where I'd sat for what seemed like hours trying in vain to get the key in the lock. Somewhere floating around the campus at the University of Nevada, Reno is video footage of me flipping of the camera as I puke, and my roommate, the cold-hearted bitch, once let me puke all over myself in my sleep - I can't help but think that maybe she wanted me to inhale vomit into my lungs and die. Was I an alcoholic? Nope. Just a college freshman embracing the joy that is underage drinking.
And through it all I even was able to pull off a little studying time; I managed to discover something about the path I'd decided to take - I absolutely *hated* journalism. On the rare occasion I actually went to my journalism 101 class, I prepped myself for an hour and 15 minutes of sheer boredom. I'd fidget endlessly in my chair and wonder how I came to decide I wanted to major in journalism when all the while something inside me was trying to get me to pay attention to the doubts it had been presenting.
"Yellow journalism blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. The word News is derived from an acronym for North East West and South blah blah blah blah blah blah."
When I got my transcript at the end of the year, it was an unpleasant surprise. They weren't kidding when they said if you want to get good grades in college you need to put in so many hours of studying per class. I guess studying my ass off for tests wasn't enough to cut it.
I found myself in even more of a difficult position than I had been in when I graduated high school. I was now through a year of college with even less of an idea of what to do when I entered "real world" status, so I took a semester off and got a full time job. I enjoyed working so much more than school, I decided to take the next semester off as well. And then the parents stepped in with their two cents about how if I wanted to get anywhere in this world I needed to have a college degree, so after much pressure from their end, I gave in and decided to take a couple classes at the local community college just to get them off my case.
History repeated itself as it so often seems to do, but this time I put a little effort into school. I spent long arduous hours in the library reading chapters, taking notes, filling out reviews, but it was to no avail because the truth was I just didn't have the heart; I didn't have the dedication that college requires. I'd been working a full time job that had enabled me to live quite comfortably in a one bedroom apartment, I had no problems financial wise, and school just didn't seem to be necessary. Maybe later? So I took a semester off. And then another. And then another.
I was never enamored or excited by the idea of going back to school. My roommate now is graduating in May with a bachelor's in general studies and then he's going to go on to become active in the navy. So his parents put him through 5 years of college so he can get a worthless degree that he's not even going to use? Why would I want to do something like that?
I decided to go back to school this semester, thinking that instead of aiming for a BA, I could simply get an associates' degree in paralegalism - a 2-year degree that I could actually apply toward something. It sounded appealing, but I, once again, am having those nagging doubts. Do I really want to make a career out of this? I work a Monday to Friday job that pays well, I was able to buy a nice car without batting an eye, I'm never short on money for things I want to do. I think I made a mistake in college - not to discourage any soon-to-be high school grads away from college, but I've come to the realization that college just isn't right for some people. I skipped the college step of life and went right into the working part. It's not that I can't handle college for if I really knew what I wanted out of it, it would be the perfect choice, but I still can't say exactly what it is I want to do as a "career." Why should I end up being unhappy in my job for the rest of my life because the college application required that I fill in a major? And if I did get a degree just for the sake of having one but never applied it toward anything, wouldn't that just be a waste of all that time and money that college necessitates? I guess college and I were just never meant to be....not to mention that I still have a lot of growing up to do.
My final thoughts for college...just for good measure. :-)
User Reviews
Submitted by Dead_0hi0_Sky (user info) at 2004-04-23 14:34:56 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
college was a big mistake for me too.
descent post.
Submitted by The_taste_of_Monkeys (user info) at 2004-04-14 11:22:54 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
I am wanking while I write this. (+2 for any britcitters that can tell me what sketch show that's from)
Submitted by Goldeneyes (user info) at 2004-04-14 11:14:12 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Yeah yeah... College blah blah drinking blah blah big classes blah blah.
I just scrolled down to the pic.
:-)
(Add my name to the list of volklcess stalkers...)
Submitted by chipolatte (user info) at 2004-03-25 00:27:55 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Whatever
Submitted by BongZilla (user info) at 2004-03-25 00:17:26 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
college rules, Im staying here as long as possible, and Im going on 5 and a half years. woo hoo!
-BongZilla
+2 for a decent sory
-1 for UNR.
Submitted by loki (user info) at 2004-03-24 10:18:30 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
I have long felt that there should be more of an emphasis on career counseling in high school. I majored in math. Why? Because I'm good at math, the longest paper I ever had to write for a math class was a 5 page proof that to be quite honest I can't even fucking read now, tests are objective (as in no counting off because my political or religious views differ from the professor), and basically because I like math. So what do you do with a math degree? You manage a sporting goods store for a couple of years and then go your ass back to school and get a master's in accounting so you can get a damn job.
Submitted by drink_DDT (user info) at 2004-03-24 10:15:46 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Consider yourself lucky. I was 17 in college, and ended up dropping out a year later to join the Army.
Now I'm 23 and only a junior. All my friends have degrees, girlfriends, wives, kids, and careers. I have no one to hang out with because I'm the only single guy left. The only positive note is I still look 17 so people in my classes don't know I'm "the wierd older guy". Oh and I have a miniscule penis.
Submitted by Mr-Boo (user info) at 2004-03-24 09:54:04 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Take your time with college/university. I jumped into it right after high school and quit after the first year, telling myself that the program I was in wasn't for me. I then returned the next fall in a new program and that only last two terms. I quit, worked, lived life for 5 years and it was then that I decided that it was time to return to school. Ya, in a way I guess I kind of wasted 7 years, but I don't regret it. I don't regret it because I enjoyed myself, partied, had fun. Life is too short, in my opinion, to jump in to college right after high school and then begin your career and family.
Submitted by jimbo (user info) at 2004-03-24 09:20:23 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Here's a little advice from someone who really shouldn't be giving it:
Whatever your favorite class was in your freshman year, major in it. Most people don't work in their major field anyway, and college is more enjoyable if you like your classes. For the record, I changed my major twice before I learned that lesson.
Elementary Education > Hospitality Management > Physics
Surprisingly, it only added 1 semester onto my time in college.
BTW, is UN at Reno the main campus of the UN system? You are the Wolf Pack, yes?
Submitted by GodChicken <too lazy to log in today> at 2004-03-24 04:33:00 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
I love Phoenix. gawd.
Submitted by triliad (user info) at 2004-03-23 22:26:55 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
I can sympathize...now that I've decided to try to go to law school (if they'll have me), undergrad seems like such a waste of my life, especially since I took a year off before coming to university and lived much better than I do now.
Forget coming from a small school...there are more students at the university I go to (60,000 - York U, Toronto) than there are in my entire hometown (45,000). Yikes.
Submitted by Scott_James (user info) at 2004-03-23 21:10:51 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
"Submitted by fingerbang (user info) at 2004-03-23 20:44:15 (#)
Ranking: -2
if you guys thing this chick is hot then you guys are nerds who can't get laid"
Or you're probably gay.
Submitted by sublime (user info) at 2004-03-23 20:59:59 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
fingerbang sometimes attitude makes a girl hotter than they already are.
Submitted by fingerbang (user info) at 2004-03-23 20:44:15 EST (#)
Ranking: -2
if you guys thing this chick is hot then you guys are nerds who can't get laid
Submitted by Scott_James (user info) at 2004-03-23 18:43:51 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Mother of God, you're a hottie!
But on the subject at hand, college isn't for everyone. Problem is that most people can't possibly know that until after they have left. Here in the UK, American students are notorious for their drinking and the fact that they can't hold their liquor. I put this down to the fact that because the legal age of alcohol consumption is persistently undermined here (it is 18, but pubs and clubs are filled with 16 & 17 year olds), the Americans students are overwhelmed by two things:
1) The fact that they can buy alcohol at the age fo 18. Even alcohol that is banned in some States of the US.
2) The fact that upon average most British students have been drinking in pubs, bars and club since the age of fourteen. The Americans have this unhealthy desire to play catch up, as if they a lot of time to make up for.
Not long after I graduated in 2002, I realised how badly my grades had suffered, which in fairness was down to my drinking. In my case it was an accumaltive effect of trouble at home and stress with my housemates that spurred me on drinking binges. At first, I would attend lectures drunk out of my mind and sober up by the interval after 45 minutes. Gradually, I stopped going at all. By the end of my second year, I was told that I would have to re-sit the whole year. I stopped drinking almost immediately, studied like a madman and got into my third year on a wing and prayer.
Point is that, college is as much a learning experience for life, as it is for education. Nobody can tell you how well you are going to do, you just have to try out for yourself.
Submitted by Phinch (user info) at 2004-03-23 17:21:15 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
you are much hotter in this pic than that one a long time ago with the short hair.
it took me 5 years to complete my 2 year degree and 3 years after that to get my bs. but it was worth it.
Submitted by Domochevsky (user info) at 2004-03-23 17:04:51 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
AMEN SISTA FRIEND! I'm 21 years old, surprisingly have not changed my major yet, but am scared about "the real world." I wish you the best of luck (oh, and the bit about coming from a small high school and small graduating class...450 students at my school...69 for my graduating class...i feel ya). Good luck, kid!
Submitted by potatomanjack (user info) at 2004-03-23 16:48:15 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
P.S. You're hot.
Submitted by potatomanjack (user info) at 2004-03-23 16:47:59 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
I changed major 4 times in my first 2 years of college.
Management -> Finance -> Financial Economics -> Economics
I stuck with economics because I enjoyed it and figured that must be worth something, even though an undergrad in it doesn't do too much for you if you actually want an economics based position.
I think you're right in thinking to take off some time between school and College though. I know that if I had it all to do all over again I'd be an Eglish major because it's what I truly love. At least I was able to get a minor in English Lit....
Submitted by beer-turtle (user info) at 2004-03-23 16:46:11 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
fear da finger
ya never know where it has been
-Turtle
Submitted by Heimdallsman (user info) at 2004-03-23 16:19:32 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Yeah, I know that's not why you quit.
Sorry, I'm just a prude with a daughter that is a freshman in college.
I'm frightened.
--HeimdallsMan
Submitted by Zod (user info) at 2004-03-23 16:14:24 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
I don't get it...1 what?
Oh, right, thats a middle finger...
You are correct. College, in fact, blows. Think of the money...think of the money!
Submitted by volklcess (user info) at 2004-03-23 16:01:15 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Heimdallsman - I've quit college to work and gone back a couple times. I took a year off to work, went back, took a year and a half off, went back. It wasn't working and it had nothing to do with controlling my drinking...I didn't decide to completely quit college just after my freshman year and too much drinking, which is something I expressed in this post.
RB - If you're implying that my boobs are fake, I'm going to have Michelle kick your ass.
:-)
phoenix
Submitted by wardy (user info) at 2004-03-23 15:58:43 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
good shit. i went to college for a semester, left, did drugs and worked, came back, and i think i'm better for it. sometimes you just need a little room to "grow up" or to learn what you're all about. clearly, you and your "boobies" are doing just fine without college, which is great. kudos and watch out for potholes!
Submitted by PizzaEagle (user info) at 2004-03-23 15:57:21 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Thats too bad. I'm a freshman in college right now, and I had the same problem first semester.
Submitted by Heimdallsman (user info) at 2004-03-23 15:55:51 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
You're right. If you spent most of the time drunk off your ass in college, then college is not for you.
However... I didn't do all that well in college until I quit, said hello to the real world, then went back. It's a whole different thing when you're going for yourself.
Anyway... a little self-control would have suited you.
--HeimdallsMan
Submitted by reallybored (user info) at 2004-03-23 15:54:20 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
hahaha reallybored, I guess I do look kinda flat in that picture, huh? I assure you that it appears that way because I'm wearing a baggy shirt and you can sleep well at night knowing that I do have BOOBIES.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Well i just remember seeing a pic somewhere of you in a mermaid costume (?) and you had breasts then. So it seems kind of weird that in this pic you look flatter then a 6 year old boy. But then again Britney Spear's breasts seem to change sizes all the time, so what do i know?...
Submitted by volklcess (user info) at 2004-03-23 15:48:51 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
hahaha reallybored, I guess I do look kinda flat in that picture, huh? I assure you that it appears that way because I'm wearing a baggy shirt and you can sleep well at night knowing that I do have BOOBIES.
:-)
phoenix
Submitted by reallybored (user info) at 2004-03-23 15:45:29 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
College was the greatest 4 years of my life. But then again i picked one major and stuck with it, and i was in a frat so i had other reasons to stay. The key to college is to go to a small school. My high school graduating class was 1500 kids. The total enrollment at school was like 6000. I had bigger high school classes then in college. Just make sure the school isnt a weak ass commuter place.
Now for my real comment:
I THOUGHT YOU HAD BOOBIES?!
Submitted by smokymtcsw (user info) at 2004-03-23 15:45:04 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Colleges often suck. Sounds like you really just needed smaller classes and topics that interest you though. You will be one of those curve busters who are mid twenties that I hated.
Submitted by gascs (user info) at 2004-03-23 15:39:34 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
goddammmm, you're smokin'
Actually, I love education, you should bear with it. What's worse, a few years of suck, or a lifetime stuck in a dead-end job that you hate? I mean, you can find a decent, pleasant job without a degree, but I think having one increases your options.
Come to think of it, I ended up getting both a few years of suck, and a lifetime stuck in a dead-end job that I hate. Shit.
Submitted by WillZone (user info) at 2004-03-23 15:39:27 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
I'm glad you left sideburns for me...
Photo caption: "I'm #1."
Submitted by JMG114 (user info) at 2004-03-23 15:37:34 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
No comment.
Submitted by bargled (user info) at 2004-03-23 15:33:58 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
I'll be a journalism major at UWYO this fall...
Submitted by domenad (user info) at 2004-03-23 15:29:25 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Boy that's too bad. What do you say we hump?
Submitted by Deisangua (user info) at 2004-03-23 15:28:21 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
I'd give it a +3 if I could.