3 July 2011
When strolling across the college lawn, it immediately becomes obvious who the different groups are and how they are contrasted. Their one common factor is that they are all reading – some may be reading textbooks, some may be reading classic literature and others may be looking through laptops or, in some instances – sketching. These distinguishing features are what separate college kids from one another. Some of them want a diploma in something specific – their subject; others want an education – a board overview of what is available in the world; the rest want a job – something that will utilise their college education but mostly bring in some money to start shifting that hefty college debt. By contrast with high school, everyone is here because they want to be and so, classes like ‘stoners’ and ‘cheerleaders’ have been abolished and made way for the three standard sub-categories of college life: those who want a diploma, those who want an education and those who want a job.
The college kids who want a diploma are, arguably, the most specifically studious: their study will focus entirely around a particular subject and its associated text books. This type of student has probably been obsessed with this subject since childhood and what they don’t know about it, isn’t worth knowing. It might be unfair to associate such a stereotype with this particular class of student but, invariably, these are the kids who were known as ‘geeks’ and ‘nerds’ in high school – the ones who were, perhaps, unfairly treated in high school and wore t-shirts that stated ‘Geeks will inherit the Earth’ and chances are, they will. These college kids are rarely seen at parties and are most likely to be found in the library or reading on the green or even at one of the college clubs revolving around chess or something equally as academic. It is all too easy to mock this type of college kid because of their devotion to their subject however, these are the kids who will, in all likelihood, invent or discover the next major scientific landmark – it will be their faces on the television explaining what ‘neo-gravity’ or ‘mega-atoms’ are, or some such. These were the people who were never destined to be the life and soul of the party, or to be a disappointment to their parents, or to end up in hospital on a Saturday night because one of their friends laced their drink with something. No, these are the people who are destined to work quietly behind the scenes, enhancing our understanding of the planet and our species – these people are the truly intelligent ones.
The next group are the college kids who want an education. When they say the word ‘education,’ they mean that they want to experience everything that college has to offer. Namely, a range of classes and subjects, meeting as many different people as possible, experiencing as many new things as possible and generally attempting to work hard and play hard. These are the students who tend to be most visible at parties – holding up the beer keg, loudly addressing the room or chatting to a sophomore in the corner. They tend to work hard during the day but play very hard at night – their studies are perhaps less focused than other students but they view their college experience as being ‘all part of it.’ These are the students who will graduate with a slightly less brilliant result but still graduate successfully – theirs are the best stories in the bar at graduate reunions too. Often heard to start sentences with ‘Oh dude, remember that time when…’ and regaling their friends with embarrassing memories and drunken rampages. However, these students are still to be taken seriously because when exam times comes around, they always get it together and focus themselves because truly, they never lose sight of their real reason for being there and plus, nobody wants to have to tell their parents that they failed. These college kids are fun, sincere, excellent company and friends for life – they may not be the most committed students ever but their world view is extensive and they mature into fantastic people with a wealth of wisdom and understanding that goes beyond the knowledge in books.
The final classification of college kids is the ones who want a job. These students are forward thinking and preoccupied with the destination, rather than the experience of the journey. These are the kids who come from families where money is a bit more difficult and their parents are working really hard to put their kids through college, or at least help with the costs of college. Because of this, they have raised their kids with a keen sense of work ethos and the understanding that if they work hard then they can achieve a lot. Equally, these kids are a strange hybrid of the other two categories – they study extremely hard and occasionally will party but their devotion to their part time job negates a large amount of the college experience. These are the kids who are to be heavily respected for their strong attitude and approach to work – they will be running businesses or corporations in years to come but will forever struggle with maintaining a work/life balance, such is their desire to achieve more and more in the workplace.
