I think the author knows that but the point is that college can be a unique experience for those types of pursuits. It is one of the few places where you have people whom you don’t know, with different view points, in one place and one time to be able to have discussions about different subjects.
It’s the intellectual stimulation of a good book club but you don’t have to look for members–they are already present and the moderator (hopefully) is a trained person to lead the discussion. If you go to the discussion looking at it as a “job” or “hurdle to your goal” you lose the whole point of the discussion which is to hopefully expand your mind and broaden your horizens–to think about things bigger than yourself.
Colleges usually bring speakers, events, art, plays etc. to campus. Those are “leisure” and hopefully students don’t just only focus on passing an exam (job) but take time to expand their horizons (leisure) and take advantage of that unique setting.
There are other unique opportunities that only college settings provide that may never come again–marching band at the football game, team sports of all kinds, clubs of every type (and competitions). Fraternities/sororities. The chance to take courses in physical sports that you’ve never had a chance to even try. (all available if you put down your phone game/social media long enough to go try them out).