I am a freshman in college and I'm already tired of telling people that. Why? Every time I tell someone that I am in college, I either hear "wow, that's expensive" or "that's a waste of time and you won't get the job you want when you get out."
Saying things like that to college students really discourages them and makes them feel stressed about their education. They are in school for themselves, not you.
Going to college is super fun and an exciting experience for most young adults; however, telling them negative things really puts them down and takes away from their good mentality - as if they are there for no reason.
Yes, most of us college students are paying for our education through extensive loans. Yes, we are piled with tons of work and even more stress. Yes, sometimes we work until four in the morning to get all of our work done. You do not have to remind us at all.
When you care enough about something, you do not care what the cost is. To elaborate, most college students dream about attending a university or college by the time they are in middle school. Maybe they don't exactly know what they want to do, but they know they want to further their education and do something great with themselves. When you have a dream like that, you don't care if you have to pay back loans for the next twenty years.
I get it, it sounds insane. Like, why would anyone want to take out thousands of dollars worth of loans every four months for five years? I admit it does sound crazy, but it is also to achieve something so amazing. Nowadays, about 60% of high school graduates attend college after graduation. Of that percentage, 35% drop out of college during their first year.
To be in that remaining 25% is a special feeling. To know that you could have gone into the workforce straight out of high school, but chose to go the extra mile is great. It adds a sense of accomplishment and confidence to those students.
Students do not bash people who went straight to work after graduation, so why are you concerned with adults who are paying back loans with their own money? It isn't fun to be criticized about going back to school and it isn't benefiting either party. So, before you put a student down about their decision to get a college education, please be mindful that that is highly disrespectful and annoying.
