In mainstream culture, there are two different views of college that get imprinted on the brains of every graduating high school student. One is the view portrayed by our teachers and mentors, when they tell us that college will “prepare you for the real world” - a chance to get some knowledge of how to go about entering the job market and living alone and paying the bills. The other is the underlying message of every college movie and most of the stories you hear from people about their college years: college is where you basically forget every rule you’ve ever learned and become a dysfunctional, temporary alcoholic. Hollywood portrays college as a never-ending stream of parties with copious amounts of drugs and alcohol, and a place where classes and education are near the bottom of the priority list. With these two virtually opposite versions of college being told to teens by every possible form of media, we, as students, must eventually decide which idea of college we want to follow.
Although movies like "The Neighbors" and "22 Jump Street" may seem like wildly exaggerated representations of the party culture at most American schools, they’re actually not too far off. For many students, college means going out multiple times a week, showing up to early morning classes either hungover or still drunk from the night before, and being in a fraternity or sorority that not only practices frequent partying, but encourages it. College is the place where you get a chance to make mistakes that aren’t as tolerated later in life, and to have a few wild years before settling down and becoming a responsible adult.
Though it’s comforting for me to know that there are other people all over the country going through some of the same struggles I’m facing as a college student, I’m not too fond of the party culture inherent in college life. Sometimes, I get the impression that this complete acceptance of otherwise inadmissible acts actually pressures me to make mistakes I don’t even want to make. I think encouraging students to try crazy, promiscuous and often illegal behavior, because they’ll suffer less consequences, is skewed logic. The fact that adults and employers are more willing to write off an arrest or small misdemeanor if it happened during college because, “Everyone makes mistakes,” or, “He/She was in college,” doesn’t seem right to me. If college is supposedly a preparation for the real world, why are students taught that their mistakes can be overlooked? The world is certainly not that forgiving in post-college life.
Of course, this doesn’t mean I don’t believe in having fun in college – going out can be really great, and wild nights can make really interesting stories. But I do believe that the focus of college is and should always be on education. To me, college is, first and foremost, a time to figure out who I want to be as an adult. College is a place where I have the freedom to plan major life decisions such as the job I’m going to have, the kind of person I’ll be or the friends I’ll have. College is a time to plan my future, and prepare for life as a completely independent adult.
For any incoming college freshmen, know that both sides of college that you’re told about contain part of the truth. However, it will be up to you to determine what will define your college experience because, as you’ve probably also heard before, college is what you make of it.
