It doesn’t matter where you go – every college campus has at least one person complaining about how little the experience benefits them, dismissing higher education as a scam or saying the program they’re in didn’t do enough for them.
Now, ask yourself if you believe anything this person said. Unless you’re a pessimist, you likely don’t. Truth is, making your college experience worth it is your responsibility.
For first-year students, having the freedom to choose classes and not having to be stuck in a classroom doing nothing all day long is gratifying, but it’s also a big adjustment. This might still be true for upperclassmen as well – you might just not know what to do with yourself.
With academics, it’s always important to know if you’re on track and taking the right classes to progress through your degree. While it is on the students to schedule these classes, it’s not like you don’t have help. Each school has academic advisers whose job is to make sure you’re making the right decisions and to help you pick out classes that you need to take.
This is true for most aspects of going to college – you do have help, but you need to ask for it. You have opportunities, but you’re not going to have your hand held to take those chances. You need to go to class, but it is ultimately up to you whether you decide to get out of bed in the morning or afternoon to walk to the classroom.
The problem lies when students expect the university or any college to do everything for them. No school is going to force you or other people to be social so you can make friends – you have to put that effort in yourself. The university will certainly try its best to make you succeed with your academics, assigning faculty to check in on your progress. However, they can only go so far if you refuse to even talk to them.
Why bring this up at all? Because these points seem to be a common criticism of the university online, and it doesn’t make much sense from our standpoint.
One of the main points of even going to college is to get a taste of independence and free will. Instead of forcing everybody to have the same experience, you get to pick your own adventure. Besides, making each student do the same thing and pushing their way through it would not be equitable in the slightest.
Every student needs slightly different things – some need more help than others. Those who recognize their needs must not only be aware of them but actively do something to not make their college experience miserable.
And if you don’t? That’s on you. If all you do is sometimes go to class and then sit in your on-campus housing all day and night doing nothing productive, not talking to anyone or doing extracurriculars, your boredom is not the university’s fault.
We admit, this is not the first time we’ve discussed points like this before. Going to college can be expensive and we want to make sure that students are making the most out of the money spent so they can get a high-quality education.
Will we take this opportunity to plug student media? Of course we will. If you’re in the School of Communication, you would look silly if you did not join The Globe, U-View, WPPJ or any combination of the three. Our people learn so much from their peers and there’s no better way to get yourself out there.
Even if you’re not in the School of Communication, there’s a place for you. Join the extracurriculars related to your major too – make the most expensive piece of paper you’ll ever get extra worth it. You may as well.
