Deciding what college to go to is a big decision for students, but most students don't have to decide if they will go to college, it isn't an option. Today a majority of students end up going to college right out of highschool. This wasn't the case for previous generations. I know from personal experience because the generations before me in my family didn't hold college to the same regards they do today. My parents said they were given the option to go to college, but it wasn't held in high regards as it is today. More and more jobs and careers require a degree of some sort which makes higher education necessary, whether that may be a university, junior college, or a trade school.
But now that we consider college to be so important, don't you think students would let that show through their behavior? It seems as though college life is straying away from academics and portrayed as becoming less serious. I'm not stereotyping every college student because there are students on both ends of the spectrum. I know of students that dedicate their time to studying and focusing all of their effort on grades and also of students who don't take class as seriously and feel that they can have more free time to relax and party.
I think the media likes to portray the latter of these two cases because it is more entertaining. We especially see this in movies today such as Old School, Accepted, and The Social Network. This feeds into the mindset that college is becoming routine and these lifestyles are almost necessary. Music, TV shows, and advertisements also promote these ideals.
I guess in the end it's up to you, do you respect your education o
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see it as a big party?
r see it as a big party? 
I think the generation gap when it comes to a college education is very interesting. Neither of my parents had a choice of where they were going to college. They grew up in my hometown (Saint Cloud, MN) and were told that should they decide to go to college, they would be going to Saint Cloud State University. For them a college education was a way to distinguish themselves from the rest of the workforce, but now it seems the only way for our generation to reach the same level of success we have to make the choice to go to graduate school. I think this has something to do with the numbers of scholarships offered to minority or first generational students. I am not saying that the increased accessibility of higher education is bad, simply that it is a new circumstance.
ReplyDeleteI think another social aspect is the perception of job trades. We have been taught by our blue collar families that we shouldn't want to turn wrenches, fix plumbing, or constructing buildings. Our parents do not want us to be like them and like most parents they want better for us, and that means college.d Society practically holds a gun to our heads telling us to go to college these days. However, there isn't enough emphasis on the many trades that can pull in 6 figure incomes, many require specialized training, but no degree(These are just like white collar jobs, you aren't a master electrician overnight). The attitudes are clear as ever, LOTS of recent college graduates that cannot find work. I think many are realizing a degree isn't an automatic ticket to $100,000 jobs. Unless you have been with a company for quite some time, know an accelerated way through a business owner or executive, a college degree is simply a pre-requisite. The degree essentially gives you many tools for your "tool belt," but we are all inexperienced until we have internship or real world job experience. This is when we begin working up the food chain to higher paying jobs that a high school degree would have held you back.
ReplyDeleteThe attitude that is displayed as far as seriousness is simply the amount of work that someone wants to put in to get to their end goal. If they have a guaranteed job out of college through a family member, all that is needed is to maintain the requirements needed for graduation. A high GPA isn't the only indicator of future success, and I think that the person guaranteeing them a job sees something that an ACT, or SAT cannot, and will never be able to predict, such as enthusiasm, drive, and if a person is willing to work countless hours for a last minute project.
I recently read a statistic that stated "one in five Americans drinks more than five drinks only once a year". I can't help but raise my eyebrows at the improbability of this "fact". I believe the media has become a major factor in exaggerating college 'partying'. Kids work hard, some are working one to three jobs, taking 18+ credits, and live off a liquid diet of coffee. There are also the kids who do not have to work, have free time and choose to fill it with drinking and drug use while getting by in school. Those extremes exist everywhere, but with the increased access to various street drugs from Adderall to Marijuana keeping a busy life style or self-medicating of one has become easier. This accompanied with the increased "demand" of college degrees has created a larger body of students who possibly see it as an equivalent to high school, something that is required but can be strolled through. Others see it as the education that will define their life. Who is to say what is more true? I do believe that college drinking is more often considered binge drinking because of the extremes taken in college. Long nights of studying require long nights of de-stressing and some students do it in the form of drug use. Balance can be hard to achieve with many college life styles, but there is no way to label an entire student body as careless of careful. I will admit to nights of too much to drink, but I can more than triple those nights with days into nights of studying and writing. Does that make me a typical college student?
ReplyDeleteI think another viewpoint on this subject is the role of young adults nowadays. Now, many women are going into careers, where in previous generations they were homemakers, and often didn't complete a college degree. Today, it seems there are extremes to both ends--those that are just going to college for the social and drinking aspect, but then there are also those that do not party at all. The majority of students are those that are still pursuing a career yet can still find the proper balance between partying and having fun and still making school the first priority for this time in their lives.
ReplyDeleteAnother point about how students are expected to go to college right away is that what happened to taking a year or so off to explore? I think this would be extremely beneficial to those who (like me) don't know exactly what they want to do once you graduate. Instead of spending so much money on classes you might not need or have no interest in, I think students shouldn't be looked down upon or judged if they just simply need a bread from school in order to work and save money or to travel and find themselves.
ReplyDeleteyou mentioned that not everyone went to college generations back, which is true because not everyone could afford it and frankly college isn't for everyone. Today its all about the money involved. Colleges enroll as many students as possible to make a dime even though it means the quality of education students recieves suffers and students attend college fearing a low wage if they don't get a degree.
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