College-The real world 101

Adrianne Richardson/Contributing Writer

I’ve always heard adults make comments like:  “The real world is no joke. It will eat you up and spit you right out. You’ll see.” I’ve always wondered what they meant by this, because college has been my taste of the real world–and it’s as real as it gets.

Eating ramen noodles, working with difficult professors and getting through their tough courses, futile searches for scarce jobs; all are realities of our college life. And very few of us have parents who can provide us with money for tuition, books, daily meals, and the clothes we want. Most of us are just out here trying to function in our “real world.”

The notion that in college you party all night and go to classes by day is a fictitious description of the life of the serious college student.

Most students are in need of financial aid. Many students struggle to gather sufficient funds to even finance their housing, and the scarcity of available on-campus jobs leaves many students reconsidering their housing arrangements.

The stress is surreal and it’s very hard on us. We just got out of high school, where all of our basic necessities were free or under three bucks because our parents provided everything – we aren’t used to this. Tell me, adults, how much more “real” can it get?

The countless study hours, barely any social time, and working to pass all of our classes in an attempt to maintain a good enough GPA to get into the school of our major, is all very hard work.

“The burden of knowing that most of us are working our hardest and may not have jobs after graduation takes a huge toll on me. College is harder than most think,” says sophomore Jessica Reed.

This is true: the economy isn’t doing so well and this is no secret. We live in the “real world” too. At least many of the adults who think college is a playground have jobs to go to and a home to live in. We are still trying to get there and it’s becoming harder for our generation.

So, the next time an adult tells you that you have to wait until you get into “the real world” to experience life and hardship, make them well aware of the hardships you go through everyday in college.

How quickly we forget what our days once were. How quickly we forget that we all live in the real world.