In the months before my high school graduation I received large doses of bad (albeit kindly meant) advice, and I recall being mildly horrified even as a naive seventeen-year-old.
It so happens that my youngest brother is graduating this year, so I'd like to offer this list of bad advice and falsehoods in honor of the class of 2013.
Bad Advice for College
1. Your college years are the best years of your life. Have fun!
The "college experience" ain't what it used to be. Nearly all American colleges are battle-grounds where freedoms of speech and religion are constantly being challenged in the name of tolerance.
Aside from that, you do make a few good friends in college and enjoy an artificial sense of freedom, but you also have to suffer four years of sleep deprivation, bad cafeteria food, anxiety over your romantic relationships (or lack thereof), and a growing suspicion that some of your classes are wastes of time.
So don't be fooled. Study hard. Life gets far better after college.
2. Go to college in another city. You need to get away from your parents.
One of my former bosses gave me this gem my senior year. His reasoning was that if you go to a city where nobody knows you, you will be liberated to party, since your family won't know what you're doing. In other words, people who say this are telling you to misbehave. If this advice excites you, you should definitely go to college in your hometown.
What you do in college does not stay in college, despite what people want you to believe. Because college is such a formative time, bad decisions you make in college will affect you the rest of your life.
3. You should live on campus.
You should only live on campus if its absolutely necessary, for instance, if you're going to college far from home or your parents run a meth lab. Otherwise, the only benefit of living on campus is that you are nearer to your friends and get to imagine that you're independent.
The downsides, however, are legion. First, it's hard to study in a dorm. It's often loud at night, and not all roommates are courteous. (Remember, the reason you're going to college is to study. If you want to party instead, don't go to college. Rather, ask your parents for $20,000 and an apartment. You'll save them money.) Second, you have to exist with a fraction of your possessions. (If you're like me, that means being separated from your book collection, which is as traumatic as being left at daycare for the first time.) Third, you get a roommate. This means that your room will always smell like feet and your bed will become a shelf for the things that don't fit on the floor.
Live at home if you can, with your own private room and your mother's cooking.
4. College is a time for experimenting.
This is only true if you're in the science department. Otherwise, let others make themselves guinea pigs while you remain the control group. Most of the time "experimenting" is another term for "making bad decisions." Call it what it is.
5. You should go to the most prestigious school you can get into.
Fact: Higher education is overpriced, and the debt isn't worth it. Go to a college you won't be embarrassed to claim as your Alma Mater, but one which you can afford. Your education won't suffer by not having gone to Yale. You'll get out of your education whatever you put into it, this is true whether you go to an ivy-league university or to an obscure college.
6. You should rush. The best way to make friends is to join a fraternity or sorority.
Fraternities are sororities are mostly a waste of time and full of fools. (Fortunately, this isn't always true. Different schools have different Greek cultures.) Peer pressure and blood-alcohol levels are often high, and drunk peers won't pressure you toward excellence.
Furthermore, although you may feel an overwhelming desire to be accepted by your peers, recognize that great men and women have often stood against the majority and taken unpopular positions. One day you may have to rise to your feet and become such a great man or woman. Learn to stand against the crowd now before the stakes get higher.
Well, that was negative. For a more positive list see Good Advice for College.
No comments:
Post a Comment