I don’t want to turn this into a rant, but I am tired of some people I go to college with.
It’s their ATTITUDE.
To come to my college, people choose to come to study after their compulsory schooling, therfore they are not under obligation to come.
Many students are over 18, hence they are considered adults, however their attitude appears not to have changed since their childhood.
I have got good examination results, and am perceived to be more “serious” than the rest of them. Many others students are in a “gang” with common things e.g. they all wear the same clothes. I prefer to be on my own, as the people in the gangs talk about futile things such as who won a football match or which girl on television last night was sexiest.
I want to do something for which I will be remembered. I want to offer something to the world,to discovers something, to invent something, yet I am being held back by these people. When Iwas at my last school, I spent lunchtimes with teachers in their rooms because I preferrred the conversations aduilts have as opposed to the things people my own age talked about.
When they are given work to do, they say something like "Why do we have to do all this s**t? In my opinion, Knowledge is Power therefore I do not say this.
One student makes childish noises even though he is at least 19.
When will these people realise that they are not here to enjoy themselves.
Sorry about the length of that. I am just so tired of them.
Actually, some of the things college courses give are useless for the students taking the course, or at least not taught with any regard of what the student will need later for life. Right now I have to take Physics. I do not want to be a physicist, I want to be a veterinarian, but I have to take that class. Is it really that important for me to know what’s the velocity of an electron travelling between to plates that form a magnetic field? Or the angle of deflection of said electron? Will that help me in my future career? Not really, not as much as other courses. I know that I need to know the concepts of physics, but the way it is taught at my school it just makes me hate it.
Now, it is possible that some of the students that say it is useless are in a situation similar to mine. They don’t want to take the class, but it is for some reason or other required…even when it has nothing to do with what they will do later in life.
Another thing…life is an experience, one makes mistakes and learns. They’ll change their way sooner or later, or drop out, or they’ll have the opportunity to live that way the rest of their lives. You’re tired, but that’s the truth.
All of us want this when we are young, and there’s nothing wrong with that at all!
If someone is standing in your way, step around them. Pause and give them a dirty look if you wish, although, IMHO, that is a waste of time, then move on.
As far as wanting to do something to be remembered for, or offer something to the world, to discover/invent something, etc.: that is a great ambition! Go for it, and let no one stand in your way! No one can stand in your way unless YOU let them. Step around them, and keep going.
On the other hand, though… Lighten up! We all end up in the same place (the grave). I repeat: lighten up!
Dunmurry, I wish I could be more diplomatic but you really need to get that stick out of your ass. Your post exudes an unbelievable level of arrogance and self-importance. And spare us the drama queen effort:
Offer some humility, discover the meaning of “well-rounded”, invent a sense of fun and learn that the only person that can hold you back is you.
BTW, those teachers wished that you’d piss off and allow them eat their sandwiches in peace.
Dunmurry, I don’t know what country you’re in, but in America, we’ve decided that everyone should go to college - whether they need to or not. Or whether they’re ready for it or not.
The first college I went to was a surreal experience. It was the University of New Orleans - hardly a prestigious institution - and the students wandered around in a fog. I think most of them woke up one morning, realized that they couldn’t go back to high school, and so they went to UNO instead.
There’s a big push to get more and more people at college, and to go immediately after high school, when few people really know what they want to do with their lives. So it’s no surprise that many of them don’t seem to know what they’re doing.
In addition, the freedom that college offers has been the downfall of many a young person who isn’t ready for it. The chance to prove you’re a mature adult is seemingly indistiguishable from the chance to act completely irresponsible.
Another factor is the decline of high schools. Many of your college freshmen don’t know algebra, can’t write a coherant English sentence, have no idea what happened before 1980, and think cavemen and dinosaurs co-existed. High school has gradually become less about imparting knowledge, and that role has fallen more towards freshman college courses and remedial college courses.
Finally, realize that you don’t live in these peoples’ heads. You have no idea what they are thinking and what they are going through. You don’t know what their goals are - what they want to do and what they may already be doing. If your goals are so important and serious, I doubt a 19-year old making funny noises can derail them that much.
Attendance to an university does not equate to maturity.
I walk around campus and wonder how the hell do these people qualify as the top 10% of california?
but to quote manwithaplan “get that stick out of your ass” sounds like a damn good idea. what does it matter what everyone else around you does? if you wish to become an anti-social bookworm then do so. Ace your classes, take 25 units/quarter, goto summer school and graduate in 2.5 years for all I care.
The rest of us like to talk about futile things. We don’t want to stress out all the time about papers, tests and deadlines. But that doesn’t mean that we don’t. Complaining about it is one thing, not doing it is another.
Don’t you think you’re a exagerating a wee bit? The english part may be true, but barely knowing algebra? In california any college that isn’t a joke requires at least trig.
Well, I wouldn’t have put it quite that way, but it’s true. I’ve had many students who want to hang around with the teachers because it makes them feel older or more mature. All we really want is 30 minutes a day to have adult conversations without students around. Your teachers probably don’t come up to students while they’re hanging around or eating, so students should give them the same benefit of being with peers for a bit. Understand that they were merely being polite by letting you stick around while they eat. Believe me; you aren’t their peer. Now, you may be a pleasant lunch companion (I’m sure you are, in fact), but the teachers deserve some quality non-student time in their day.
I am the most important person in the world, why must I suffer the commoners. I am posting this so someone will reinforce my aditude that I am vastly superior to most everyone alive.
The truth is, Dunmurry, life isn’t just about doing academics. It’s also about dating and marriage, having children, going to the movies, watching the leaves fall, and so much more. And college isn’t just about learning. Colleges have social clubs not just because the students want them, but because they’re a necessary part of life (not the clubs per se, but the social aspects).
So yes, lighten up a bit and recognize that while those other students may be on one extreme (taking college too lightly), you’re on the other (taking college too seriously).
Higher Education in the United States does have purposes other than the noble ones you espouse.
For one thing, it’s a holding tank. It keeps immature people occupied (and out of the workforce) until they grow up a bit. And as others have noted, it can be a good place to meet like-minded people to date and marry and make friends with in the meantime.
For another, it’s a place to gain social capital or maintain one’s status. Among certain classes, it’s expected that your kids will go to college, no matter how dumb they are, no matter how ill-suited they are for school, no matter how good they’d be at a career that didn’t require a baccalaureate degree.
This is why there are as many as 3000 2- and 4-year colleges in this country.
Don’t get me wrong, I completely buy into the educational mission and I think many students gain a lot from it. I wouldn’t be working in the field if I didn’t believe that. But I also recognize that there are other reasons so many people go to college, whether or not they realize or admit it.
It’s sad that people are attacking a poster who thinks of college as a place to futher his education and goals in life instead of just having a good time. It’s even sadder that idealism is called “arrogance,” as though we need to aspire to nothing more than finding ways to drink more beer.
Dunmurry – people go to college for various reasons. If you feel those at your college aren’t really serious about getting an education, look into others.
KarlGrenze – you are woefully missing the point. The main purpose of the course is to teach you to think. That’s more important than learning a subject, and if you have to sit through courses you don’t like in order to do that, tough.
Athletics are not necessarily incompatible with intellectuality. It took me a long time to realize this, being of the decidedly “snobby bookish” sort myself. Competition is good. Physical exertion is good. A lot of those “futile” sports are mind-bogglingly complex exercises of strategy and tactics. Take football (American) for example. True, any muscle-bound dolt can be a football player, but it takes someone athletic and smart to be a really good football player.
Please note, soccer and other sports fans…I am not knocking these sports. I just used American football as an example with which I’m familiar.
It’s called "normal human interaction. We are all sexual creatures…especially 18-year-old college kids. This is utterly normal.
In short, lighten up man. Life is short and should be enjoyed in a variety of ways. Be young for a change. There’s nothing wrong with it.
from KarlGrenze:
Yes. It is. Don’t turn your nose up at this kind of knowledge. In short, you want to be a veterinarian, but it’s impossible for you to know what core scientific knowledge you’ll need later in life. Learn it all and enjoy it. You’ll be glad you did.
I went to college on a full scholarship with stipend - took classes ranging from a history of Western Art to honors international economics - graduated summa cum laude with a major (management) with a concentration (Western European business) and a minor (Spanish). I belonged to multiple honor societies, was an officer in the local chapter of AIESEC and left on a one-year internship in Finland 2 weeks after graduating. I think I did pretty well for myself. I think I learned plenty.
Now, while in college, I spent many a day at my favorite bar, shooting pool and drinking beer. Ogre once had to actually carry me back from a concert as I found my legs weren’t up to the task of walking. I went to football games, cheered on the team. I went to keg parties, met women, had relationships. I thought (and still do think) that rude jokes, farts, and flushing toilets have their humor value.
Being intellectual and being fun are not mutually exclusive. And if you don’t like someone’s attitude, well - don’t be their friend. I’m sure if you find them immature and silly, they probably think you’re stuffy and boring. Move along - find people you like.
YAWN…the most valuable lessons to be learned from college are not the classes, RealityChuck. College is just as much about learning to make do on your own, making friends, and managing your time.
It’s aaaaaall about balance.
If you need me, I’ll be over here in the corner with my group of friends, having a beer or three and talking about the finer points of evolutionary theory, cosmic background radiation, and, oh yes, boobs.
No one’s attacking Dunmurry for wanting an education but rather for not understanding why anyone would do anything else while there. College is also about being on your own, learning who you are, enjoying friends and if you’re so inclined, even drinking beer. Studying and learning is very important and should be the most important part of why you’re there. But a lot of students get on their own, party a bit, and then settle down and get serious about the coursework. Hopefully the OP will do a bit of the opposite. (It doesn’t have to be kegs and beer bongs. D&D, concerts, LAN parties and other not-so-intellectual pursuits are just as good.)
It doesn’t pay to be too serious about life. As someone above said, we all end up in the same place.
And well, the OP’s post did come across as a touch arrogant.
I went to college because that’s what you did in my family. Parents paid for the whole ride. The first two years I was the sort that the OP has issues with. Then junior year…started to get very serious about it - it was a pretty good college, also good student/professor ratio. Glad I came to my senses before graduation. Todays drunk frat boy could be next semester’s cum laude…(or the president of a large western country…)