How many College students are very naive about the real world?

College Life
1

<p>Just something that has recently come to my mind since I am very close to graduation-</p>

<p>When you are eighteen what (most) College students are thinking about is the transition from high school into College. Most students just want to go to College and have fun because they are shown in the media that college is fun. A lot of students don’t try very hard academically and just manage to get by.</p>

<p>Around 1(Or 2, depending on the person) years later they realize that one of the primary reasons for going to College is to get a degree and get a job. Some people don’t get out of the “I can just do whatever I want and get by” stage and spend the rest of College like this. They never complete any internships, they rarely go to the library and study, they have teenage summer jobs, and they expect at the end of their degree they should immediately find a job and get paid.</p>

<p>Since I have a lot of free time this semester I have been (unproductively) reading a lot of forum posts how students have graduated and don’t have a job. </p>

<p>And what have they done about it? Absolutely nothing.</p>

<p>While they were in College they would sometimes skip class, spend all of their free time either playing video games, watching television, sleeping, going to parties or the club/bar, or just in a state of “I don’t care.”</p>

<p>In short, they never grew up.</p>

<p>I am 23 now and I don’t feel like I have grown up at all. Even though I did almost everything right (Graduating with honors, two to three internships, multiple job experience, study abroad, blah blah blah) I still don’t feel so much different than when I was 15.</p>

<p>In fact, I don’t think I will ever grow up until I start a full time job outside of the College bubble.</p>

<p>I think this is a problem that needs to be addressed in American society in general.</p>

2

<p>The country is caught up with the cult of ‘nice’. No matter how pertinent or necessary something is, if it is unpleasant, it is swept under the rug, or painted over with a nice little smiley face. If one refuses to do so, one gets called names: ‘hater’, ‘doom-and-gloomer’, ‘liberal’, ‘conservative’, ‘hippie’, or if one’s minority status permits ‘racist’.</p>

<p>The people are kept in an over-hyped, emotional, subjective state where they deny that there is an objective reality that can be observed, as all viewpoints are ‘equal’, thus applying logic becomes impossible because the epistemology is shot.</p>

<p>I blame the glorified, useless, dumbed-down schools, and the television. All under the sun bask in the stupefying, gratifying glow of the ‘idiot box’ in lieu of bettering themselves, and look at where it has gotten them.</p>

3

<p>Yeah. I think it is funny when I read on CC about what kinds of jobs and salary they “expect” after college. They’re so oblivious that I almost feel bad for them. I worked for a year after high school there were plenty of recent college graduates at my place of work who just didn’t get it. They think they’re the center of the universe, they know everything, they’re overqualified, and despite just starting out, they frequently request days off and shorter hours and frequently call in “sick”. There was a WSJ article about this trend like a month ago, about the sense of entitlement and lofty expectations among recent college graduates. Whatever. Their loss.</p>

4

<p>wooo… so that means less competition for the rest of us?</p>

5

<p>“The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for
authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place
of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their
households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They
contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties
at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers.”</p>

<p>-Attributed to Socrates by Plato</p>

<p>Every generation thinks that its situation is unique. For every lazy college kid, there’s one busting his ass to get ahead.</p>

6

<p>Oh God, this is me. Except I work very hard academically and make close to straight A’s. </p>

<p>I hate working, I refuse to hold a job. I’ve had two since starting college and quit both of them because I hated being confined. </p>

<p>I’m thinking I’m going to use this year of college to find myself and figure out what I want out of life, and then from there I’ll start getting focused career-wise. It’s hard to be focused when you have no idea what you’re even working towards.</p>

7

<p>If you want to be more in tune with the real world, move out and pay for school yourself. It’s completely in your power to grow up. How do you even define reality? People in college have to take care of themselves, the only thing that changes that instead of you going to class you go to work, and instead of using loans to pay for everything, you use income. Plenty of people aren’t “grown up,” even in their 30s. Maturity is a long process. You can’t expect to just grow up. Then again it depends on what you mean by grown up. Financial independence, or just independent thinking. </p>

<p>Financial independence takes time because parents want to provide us with more than they were provided with, so they help us as much as possible. It’s crazy how much some parents at my school pay for their kids- gas, car, insurance, cell phones, clothes, greek dues. </p>

<p>I only think society should be there to help people achieve happiness and fullfillment, when desired. I don’t think society should force people to be a certain way (other than following laws respecting other people’s liberty). People should not be obligated to meet your definition of grown up. If you don’t feel mature, do something- move out, work, etcl, don’t blame society for being immature.</p>

8

<p>What exactly do you mean by move out? If I go to College then I have to live in a dorm on campus, an apartment on campus, or with mom and dad. I cannot move out of A,B, or C while attending College. I don’t see how it is possible to move out of this while completing a degree.</p>

<p>Yes, College is a bubble which has very little relation to the real world. Just reading the posts on “College life” on this site is proof of naivety. In December, I get out.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Do you know the name of the article?</p>

9

<p>I have a few friends from middle school that took the other route and had jobs, got married, and had kids by the time they were 20. They’re adults alright.</p>

<p>Meanwhile, I’m in the cushy confines on going to college with a huge chunk of financial aid, with an occasional bit of money from parents. My only responsibility is to productively learn from this college experience.</p>

<p>Sure, I’ve been taking classes seriously, finding jobs and internships, and figuring out a 10yr plan (since the ones my parents set for me just ended when I got into college). However, I’m still financially dependent, have relatively few responsibilities, and a good life with little worries.</p>

<p>Compared to those previously-mentioned friends, I’m way behind them in terms of maturity. The difference is: I see no need to grow up any time soon. Being a “non-adult” is very nice and comfy, and I’d like to remain this way until it no longer makes sense to do so. Maybe when I get married and have kids in 5-10yr, but not now. Enjoy it while you can.</p>

10

<p>

</p>

<p>Just because somebody is 20 and has a kid does not make them more mature than you and just because somebody who is 30 and has a kid doesn’t make them more mature than somebody who doesn’t have a child.</p>

<p>I know people who are in their 40’s who are the happiest people you could ever meet who have never gotten married or had kids.</p>

11

<p>“I hate working, I refuse to hold a job. I’ve had two since starting college and quit both of them because I hated being confined.”</p>

<p>I beg to differ. Being unemployed is confinement. Without a job you can’t afford luxuries. Whether they be movie tickets, sporting events, vacations or whatever. Hell your lucky if you can afford your basic living need without a job. A job is what allows you to live life. IT sets you free.</p>

<p>and post #5… excellent post. If the notion that the majority of kids are lazy sacks of crap then why are we continually advancing. Not only technologically but socially too. There is a reason the job market is getting tougher and tougher competition (granite the argument that colleges are dumbing down education is a whole seperate issue).</p>

12

<p>college has become something to get through as a stepping stone to the next stage. Getting through is the sole value of it. It’s kind of like a factory or quality control- if you get through it you must be qualified.</p>

<p>If I really wanted to learn it would be a lot more efficient and enjoyable to do it myself.</p>

13

<p>There’s a lot of naive students out there, I’ll admit it. What surprised me the most is how many kids just don’t go to class at a university which is supposedly pretty prestigious and accepts top students. Do kids expect that they can just skip work when they get a job? Why are so many students (or their parents) paying thousands upon thousands of dollars to NOT GO TO CLASS?</p>

14

<p>yes, many naive students</p>

<p>but… are the adults so much more improved? </p>

<p>Look at the obesity rates. </p>

<p>Look how most people behave - selfish and just wanting to preserve/enhance their ego</p>

<p>Look what we are doing to our own enivronment/habitat, (and we dont have a back-up planet to live on)</p>

<p>etc, etc</p>

15

<p>bagels - nice red herring, are you going to eat it or shall I?</p>

16

<p>im bringing context </p>

<p>The presumption is the “real world” is sane and normal</p>

17

<p>No, your argument is a red herring, and no such presumption was made in the original post.</p>

18

<p>I think every generation has experienced a different “real world”. Generations have experienced war, the progression of a country and other things as well. Maybe our generation is experiencing an age where technology is over powering our lives? I’m just entering college so I don’t really have an answer yet whether I am naive. I’ve known for years that the world does not revolve around me and that the “real world” is never fair. When something bad happens I get over it fast becuase I know being mad wont change anything. I worked at a T-shirt company (sweatshop factory) after freshman year highschool and I noticed how immigrants lived their lives. I sort of learned what it meant to live in the real world for a summer. I think once your on your own in the real world you can really I think you start to understand the real world and the true value of a dollar.</p>

19

<p>

</p>

<p>So many people on this site think they deserve to have a certain job or a certain salary just because of merit(gpa).</p>

<p>GPA is crucial to getting accepted into graduate schools, law school, medical school, investment banking, consultancy, etc. but in the real world it might not be as applicable.</p>

<p>A resume with just high grades and no extra-curricular activities just signals to the employer that you probably have low social skills and didn’t venture out of the library or your room.</p>

<p>(Note: If you are one of those kids and are reading this then you better get out and start doing something unless you plan to go for a PhD. I didn’t understand this the first 2.5 years I was in college and boy was I naive).</p>

<p>This doesn’t even address the kids who have completely average grades(Such as a 2.6 with a BA in Journalism) which only come to college to do nothing for four years. </p>

<p>I feel bad for the kids who just don’t get it. Once they get out, they will learn.</p>

20

<p>Resumes, if I recall correctly, are not college applications; extracurriculars are largely extraneous.</p>

<p>[Sample</a> Software Engineering Resume, Sample Programmer Engineering Resume, Sample Engineering Graduate Resume](<a href=“http://www.bestsampleresume.com/sample-engineering-resume/sample-engineering-resume-4.html]Sample”>Sample Engineering Resume and Tips)</p>