I turned in my graduation application last week. That means it's official. By this time next year, barring some cataclysmic mental collapse, I will be a member of the "real world" - the non-MTV variety. I'm both surprised and dismayed at how quickly and slowly the time went.
Thinking back on my college career makes me shudder: the Ramen noodles and residence-hall bathrooms, my difficulty in a few subjects, the late nights of cramming and partying mixed like a bad Long Island iced tea, etc.
I remember how college was never something I planned on doing right out of high school.
I still don't think it's for everyone coming out of high school. It was definitely not first on my to-do list. So, when I got here, I didn't have the right mindset.
I had this idyllic view of college life. Perhaps I watched too many episodes of "A Different World." I have since lost my romantic view of college as never-ending intellectual conversations and meaningful exchanges with other people (although I've found more in recent semesters than in the first few). When I think about some of the people I've met here, I wonder how I ever thought such a thing.
I maintain, however, that most people subscribe to a "fashion versus form" sense of what you can get out of college. My grades battled my quest for the college experience. I believed college is the time to do all the things you want, a last hurrah of sorts before entering the real world. Want to join eight organizations? Go ahead. Stretch yourself.
If you fall on your face, it is better to do so now than in the future. College provides a limited safety net.
Boy was I wrong. In terms of the college career, that limited safety net doesn't apply if you fall too hard on your face. Such falls typically lead to landing hard on the streets, or your parents couch, if you're lucky.
I was wrong in terms of believing experience outweighed achievement. That was my biggest failure, and believing that made (and still sometimes makes) it difficult to motivate myself to keep on top of things.
I had the fashion of college down, but not the form. Experiencing college is nothing if you do poorly and are unable to be taken seriously following collegiate survival. It seems it took me forever to realize this seemingly obvious fact, but once one does they can realize their potentials.
In realizing this potential, it's not about just being wealthy and being able to actualize the fantasy of commercial (i.e. television) success.
Realizing potential should be looked at not doing well (personal) but doing better (community). That's what we're working toward. Is college a last hurrah? No.
The working world doesn't have to be a death sentence.
Write to Aric at ariclewis@hotmail.com
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