I graduated from (US) college (i.e. university) over five years ago, though I’ve been taking the occasional class here and there. I had that dream again - the one where you suddenly realize that you registered for a class and forgot all about it for most of the semester (you haven’t been going to lecture, studying, or doing any of the assignments) and now it’s too late and you are almost certainly going to fail.
Have you had this dream? (see poll)
What do you think causes it?
My ideas as to the cause is that college is the first time in many people’s lives where they have a very high degree of autonomy and are trusted to make acceptable decisions without needing to run everything by mom and dad or a teacher. A 19 year old college student faced with an exam Friday morning and an interest in social activities can decide if they want to study now and go see the football game later against Other State U later, or join a pickup basketball game on the east quad now and study later. Also, a student’s schedule is not consistent from day to day in a way they have not seen before. There’s no showing up for school at 7 am every morning every weekday for years. These factors combine to make it a memorable experience.
I have that dream about work, now…that I’ve completely forgotten about one of my patients and haven’t been to see them in months. Like the college dream, this is never going to happen in real life. In real life, A) I don’t have so many patients that I lose track of them and B) even if I did, someone would call to remind me, sooner or later. Still…anxiety + autonomy…
I’ve had that dream repeatedly and with variations. In some of the variations I’m going back to high school, rather than college. In other variations, I’m just starting college again (these are usually kind of fun.)
I also taught for a while and I’ve had dreams where I am supposed to give a lecture and haven’t prepared.
I think it’s just a brain quirk, not necessarily something unique about college. For example, I’ve only acted onstage a couple of times, but I’ve also repeatedly had dreams where I haven’t memorized my lines.
Other recurring dreams include forgotten locker combinations, phone numbers and not being able to find something to wear.
Yes, same here. I haven’t had lines on a stage since grade school, and those were not high pressure situations, but I have recurring dreams of having agreed to fill a major supporting role as a favor to a friend, and it’s the dress rehearsal, and I haven’t even read the script… Oddly enough, I’ve played in lots and lots of orchestras and other musical groups, but I’ve never had that kind of a dream about instrumental performance.
My mother still has the college dream, and that was more than thirty years ago for her. Whatever causes it, it’s got staying power.
I began having that dream shortly after I graduated college, and it baffled the hell out of me. I was responsible in college and never had the experience in real life, nor did I have the dream while I was IN college. Then I get out and start dreaming about shit that never happened.
After 10 or 15 years, the dreams stopped. (Finally!) Then I started taking actuarial exams. These do not involve class attendance; you just study and take the tests. But bang, it brought the dreams back. Eventually I finished exams and the dreams stopped again.
So I don’t know. I guess the disconnect from leaving college made me feel like I was forgetting to do something. And taking tests brought that feeling back. I gotta say, if I never have that dream again, I won’t miss it.
The main thing about college and dreams for me is, since I fell in the lake at mine and had to wait for a couple of hours in the girls dorms with nothing on but a quilt while my girlfriend ran my clothes through a laundry cycle, I haven’t had the “naked in public” dream any more.
It comes along once in a while - the dream is that I realize that I did not have enough units to graduate, and that I do not really have a degree (both false in real life). Which leads to mild anxiety (in the dream) about my employer discovering this and me losing my job and my family’s security today.
Been a while since I last had it. What makes entertains me is that even in my dream I am arrogant enough to say: screw it, I’m talented enough I’ll get a job anyway.
I’ve had the school dream in many variations, but this one is the most common.
In fact, I had this dream last night. In last night’s version I had to finish high school all over again, and I fell behind on three of my four classes, and managed to catch up in the others at the last minute but totally forgot about the fourth one. And it was a math class, of course. There was so much unfinished homework I had to make up.
I have the theater dreams too, or sometimes dream that I’m in a chorus and don’t know the words. I also have dreams that I’m in high school marching band again, and that I’ve been skipping class and get thrown into a field performance at the last moment. Either that or I lose my trombone.
I have to wonder what exactly the brain is doing when we have these dreams.
I have had non-college versions of that dream. There’s the high school version, which is exactly the same. There’s the LARP version, in which I have shown up at an event without my costume and/or makeup (this one is common among larpers). Then there is the baby version, in which I find out or remember that I had a baby a while back and have forgotten to take care of it. Sometimes I find a forgotten (but somehow alive) toddler under some laundry.
Yes, I have that dream every couple of months, although in the dream I’m usually in high school. Also, I frequently dream that I can’t remember my class schedule. I dig around in my backpack for the paper that they give you on the first day of school, but I can’t find it, and I’m terrified about never being able to get to class.
I’ve had the dream about high school, too, for what it’s worth. I rarely have either dream, but it’s annoying when I do. Most commonly it’s me having been told that I actually needed one more class to graduate, and my degree is not technically legit and I have to take and pass the class before it will be. It’s usually a math class of some sort, and I’m back living on campus, and suddenly realize the semester is almost over and I’d completely forgotten about the class. This usually ends up with me wandering around campus trying to remember when and where the class is.
I’m detecting some common themes here. It’s a math class. I can’t find where it is. My degree isn’t “real.”
