4 Myths that Students Believe about College

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On Media & Unprecedented Opportunities

The other night I went to some political event, because I am so very so-phis-ti-cate-ed (or just a nerd), and the host jokingly suggested that the group should raise money to buy the local newspaper and make the guest speaker the editor.  And while I think that such a course of action would improve the newspaper in question, my bloggish little mind said "But lo!  That's not really necessary!"

You see, rather than the system of old, anyone with something to share can take to the Internet, air their views, and anyone interested in learning about it can find it with ease.  And all of the participants do this from the comfort of their own homes, in their pajamas!  Huzzah!

Can it get better?  Perhaps not, but there's another aspect I want to point out, and that's global access.  On my humble blog, I've had 321 page views from the USA (home sweet home), 62 from the  UK, 14 from Germany, 10 from Malaysia, 3 from France, 1 from the Dominican Republic, and 1 from Poland.  And how many of those people would be remotely interested in my local newspaper?  (By the way:  Hello!  Guten Tag!  Hari Baik!  Bonjour!  Hola!  Dzien dobray!  Fun with Google Translate!)

Everything is lousy, sometimes.

Hello readers,

For the past couple of weeks, I've shied away from posting anything, because I've been 1.) discouraged, 2.) sick, and 3.) indirectly exhausted from my sister's theatrical endeavors.

I'm just not brimming over with good ideas or words to express them.  Everything I considered posting about seemed to quickly degenerate into an all-out whinefest, and who needs that?

Upon further reflection, however, it seemed dishonest not to tell this part of the story.  I'm not trying to sell anything, just document my adventure.  And adventures tend to be "nasty, uncomfortable things that make one late for dinner."  (Bonus points if you get that reference!).

This is simply an Important Fact About Things in General:  Whatever you do, it will occasionally be lousy, and it applies to everything.  College is, contrary to the glossy brochures, not all cheery multi-ethnic young adults sitting in trees.  (Seriously, what's with the trees?  Every college's marketing materials include a picture of kids in trees.  I've been to several college campuses, and have yet to see these mythical tree-dwelling students.)  There's also homesickness, roommates with incompatible circadian rhythms, and nutritional deficiencies brought on by bad cafeteria food.

In the same vein, un-College is not all sleeping in as much as you like, pursuing other interests in your spare time, counting the money you've saved, and doing little dances to celebrate your defeat of The System.  Allow me to address a few lousy things that have manifested themselves in my own un-College experience.  Not everyone will have the same experiences, and I'm not saying mine are universal.  I'm simply pointing out the ones I've encountered.

• You're home a lot.  This is not necessarily a bad thing, but it's difficult to get away from anyone else you live with.  My mom is the greatest.  However, when she's stressed, I absorb it and magnify it.  My sister was in a musical last weekend, and there was so much stress vibrating through the house.  I was completely exhausted, and mildly concerned about having mutant children.  
• On the flip side, my sister's in school and my mom and brother are on the go a lot.  Sometimes, I get a twinge of cabin fever, and desperately want to have a conversation with someone who isn't my dog.
• A lot of people just don't get it, and will offer unsolicited advice on what you ought to be doing.  When you say, "I'm going to do accelerated distance learning, rather than traditional college," people tend to respond as if you said, "I'm going to study abroad in North Korea, and play hopscotch across the DMZ in my spare time."  "WHAT?  Are you SURE?"  People have even told my parents to make me go to college, so I don't ruin my life.
• It's easy to get distracted, and you're the only one keeping yourself on task.
• That goes double if you're stymied on something, or an assignment doesn't make sense.
• You're dependent on various techno-things that can act up.  For example, I haven't been able to do my SL work since Thursday, because I'm waiting for an e-check thingy to clear.
• This reveals one of the darker facets of my personality, but here goes:  The un-College community has a high concentration of the beings I refer to as WonderKids.  These are the people who say things like, "I'm such a failure.  This summer, I only built 43 water filtration systems in Africa from recycled components of land mines I sniffed out and defused myself, and I really wanted to hit fifty, but I had to leave for my cello performance with the London Philharmonic."  I'm exaggerating, but after spending a lot of time with gainfully-employed, well-rounded kids, who are barely older than me but have at least five times as many college credits and some grand vision for their lives, it's easy for an insecure, low-energy blogger to feel a little discouraged.

This doesn't mean that un-College is bad, or doesn't work.  Everything is lousy sometimes, and you just have to pick the option with the lowest lousy-to-otherwise ratio.