Why you should go to college.

For those of us with the means to go to college, it should be a simple decision. However, it is a challenge for any 17 or 18-year-old high school student to make such a huge life decision. You are asking them to spend the equivalent of one fifth of their life so far in a higher institution. To have an adolescent dedicate the next four (or more) years of his life to something is difficult.

Even a 2-year community college or trade school is a leap of faith for these children. I say children, because even looking at myself two years ago, I see a young, inexperienced and naive kid. That kid wasn’t sure what to do with himself. That wasn’t his only issue though. He thought if he found the right thing to do after high school, be it a full time job, college, or a trade school, he would grow to have the “right” job for him. The “right” education would lead to the “right” job and he would be happy with his existence.

That has proven to be patently false. That version of me never found the elusive “perfect” school. There was no “perfect” route for my life to take. If you would have taken that kid and shown him who I would be in a scant two years, he never would have believed it. Who can expect a kid of 18 years to know what he wants to do and who he wants to be?

Luckily, I had the grades and the support of my parents who pushed me to go to college. I decided that because of my indecisiveness, the best thing to do would be to avoid the real world for a few years. With some generalized major, I’d be able to find a job that interested me and paid well enough to support me. Or at least I’d be able to take time and reassess myself. Hell, throw in grad school and I might have been able to avoid the real world for a couple more years.

The motivations and desires of a student between the ages of 18 and 20 are radically different. I went to college to escape. When I came here I came to realize a lot of things about the world at large.

First of all, the board game Life has it right. Without college, there are way to make it by, but it’s much easier if you go to school. You mature over the time spent at school still in a semi-controlled environment. It acts as a transition between high school and full time work. I challenge you to find a college graduate that thinks that one day of their college life was a complete waste.

Not that I said graduate. Dropouts gain from the college experience too. They realize that college is not right for them. Maybe they aren’t right for college. They might not have the drive, dedication and common sense. They might also not realize the opportunities provided to them.

Not all college students realize the opportunities presented to them either. College is primarily a learning environment. Coming in a close second is the unique social situation that college is. Four years of living in close proximity to your peers can teach you a lot about yourself. I’d say I have rediscovered my own identity, but that would insinuate that I knew who I really was before coming here.

It’s not that far fetched to say that a fair majority of college students have some sort of identity crisis or re-evaluation when they come to school. It’s not essential to go to college. I know a few people that were mature enough to enter the real world on their own. It’s a difficult process that can be done, but that’s not to say I don’t recommend the wonderful transition that takes place in today’s places of higher learning. A strange conglomeration of social and professional experiences, not to mention the unique things you will be exposed to on a college campus in this age of rampant socialization and irresponsibility.