Originally Posted by
OOfff
I spent my late teens and early 20s working full time instead of “getting blackout drunk every weekend.” I also finished my degree in that time. Nobody I know went on blackout benders every weekend. It’s almost as if you’re mischaracterizing college to justify your decision.
Whether that was the intention, that was how it came across to me as well.
Are there kids who party in college a lot? Absolutely... It has and always will be that way, but to act like every college student is living out Van Wilder is disingenuous and falsely devalues the college degree and experience.
I worked two or more jobs all through college, took CLEP courses, and finished early with a 3.97 GPA with a double-major in a challenging program(s). I feel like most of my friends worked pretty hard in college as well. The ones who didn't mostly just dropped out, or took a break until they were ready to take it more seriously.
FURTHERMORE, I have and always will place a high value on the affect of a Liberal Arts degree on a young person... For those who weren't fortunate to travel much as children, college can be the first time a young adult is exposed to new and different people, cultures, religions, ideas, etc. It's an incredibly formative time, and this is important. The LAST thing we need in this world is more people staying entrenched in their own echo-chambers, and not challenging themselves by entertaining new and different ways of thinking.
Al that being said, I agree that choosing where you go, and how you take care of paying for school is just as important... Kids taking on $100/$200K+ of student loans for a generic/unmarketable degree can very quickly hamstring their early professional lives with a debt that is at a very high liability level.