College isn’t for everyone, and I don’t think there’s a single student that disagrees with that.
“But what if you want to become a doctor? You need to go to school for that.”
Sure, if that’s what you want to be, go for it.
The belief that “we need to go to school to be successful” really seems like the product of the biggest pyramid scheme that exists. Uninformed parents sellout the traditional path of education as the holy grail, thus perpetuating the cycle and recruit their kids into a system that manufactures student debt.
But let’s face it, the education system is broken beyond battered. As a student, here are three reasons why I hate school.
1. Elective Courses / Distribution Requirements
Remember those courses you took in high school because they were “required” for you to graduate? Yeah.. those are still a thing. If you thought electives were boring in high school, they are ten times worse in university.
It’s not so much that the courses are particularly difficult, but more that the material dry as hell. Getting through the semester is a test of pure willpower and your ability to forcibly memorize facts and do obligatory assignments.
2. Professors…
They don’t care about you. Some do, but let’s be honest, it’s an act. Teaching is their side thing, all they really care about is doing research to earn that cash money.
Lectures just suck, is what I’m trying to say.
You’ll be lucky if you get a good professor teaching your class. An enthusiastic professor can be the difference between you loving the class and you being on the verge of dropping out.
Most times you’ll get a professor with a monotone voice, or one that talks slower than your Chinese-speaking grandma attempting to speak English using Google Translate, or one with a heavy accent you can barely understand (yay for diversity).
3. Doing it just to do it
Everyone’s the astute student on first day of class, but everything’s downhill from there. As the weeks roll on, students will start to stop caring about the class: scrolling through Facebook looking at funny videos, playing Hearthstone or League of Legends, shopping for clothes, catching up on sleep… The class attendance just drops, and drops, and drops. Heck, I’ve seen the attendance cut in half between the first and second lecture.
Most students have no clue why they are even in class, or what they even want to do with their life for that matter. The class doesn’t mean anything to them, especially if it’s a class not part of their major.
The three month semester ends up being this massive time drain filled with memorizing stupid facts for exams and writing papers the night before the deadline.
We’ve been told that this school thing is the route to adulthood and the solution to all life’s problems, so we stick with it and put in the minimum effort to just get by. What a waste.
I’m against how the education system works as it stands, but I can’t do anything about it. So how can us students make the best of our dire situation?
If you ask an adult what they learned in school, they will blank out. They will then proceed to tell you how they met their best friend in college and are still good mates 20 years later.
The ROI of college is largely the relationships you build.
The people you meet in college can turn into lifetime friendships. Spend time together. Put yourself out there. Join a club. This is the time to experience life fully. Find a welcoming community. Build your tribe.
I’m not one to give professional advice about career decisions, but if you’re in college and don’t know why you’re there or hate going to class, then you might as well try to make some friends.
Thanks for reading! 🙂
