Frank Zappa was famously quoted as saying “If you want to get laid, go to college. If you want an education, go to the library.”
That’s well and good, but now that the first week of school is over, it seems that some of us are getting an education from college whether we like it or not: “I have a 40-minute presentation next week!”
“I have to buy 50 books and do a report on each!”
“I have 300 pages of reading every day!”
“I’m flunking out of school right this minute and winning the lottery!”
Toss a part-time job into the mix, and the complaints increase exponentially.
Whether fresh out of high school or a fifth-year senior weary of the college grind, everyone seems to have a sob story about the ridiculous demands made on our personal time by homework. Because, you know, we shouldn’t have to put forth effort in school. Shouldn’t school be just like something out of the movies “Van Wilder” or “Old School,” where the meaning of life revolves around booze and parties and sex, and someone else can foot the bill for it all?
It’s true that not all college students have such a sense of entitlement and that some workloads are less manageable than others and deserve a little lightening, but it’s also true that the reasons behind college enrollment can give clues to how well a student will cope.
There are too many reasons that people go to college to name here; these are just three of the most common.
Some students, like myself, go to college because we want to be able to have better jobs than a high-school diploma alone could provide. Sometimes those in this group feel that going to college is merely a pathway to a job and nothing more.
These people would benefit more by taking full advantage of the many things college offers, like interest groups, clubs, concerts, activism and sports. I primarily identify myself as a college student, but there’s much more to my life than that. I’m also a gym junkie, mixed-media artist, social scientist, armchair philosopher and much more.
For everything you are besides a student, there’s probably a way to nurture that part of yourself at Ball State.
A certain group of weirdos go to college to pursue a particular area of study or major, simply for the love of it. These people are passionate about something and want to make a fulfilling career of it, and by all means, they can certainly try.
However, they must be wary of the burnout and jadedness that can result from translating one’s enthusiasm into a profession.
For instance, a budding social worker may be shocked at just how much schooling is necessary to become employable in the field, not to mention the sheer amount of human grief and suffering with which they must come into contact during that schooling.
Occasionally, a blessed soul or two will go to college because he or she feels a love of learning and a desire to open his or her mind to great thoughts and knowledge.
The politics and bureaucracy inherent in public university systems notwithstanding, these people are sometimes able to discover the joy of lifelong learning and become great thinkers — and possibly professors.
Just watch out, they might love learning so much that they decide to assign you 50 books.
Write to Marie at
mmzatezalo@bsu.edu
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