Through repeated viewings of social media, I have come across many people who seem to believe that college students learn nothing useful and do little amounts of actual work.
Many people see college students as lazy and ignorant, and by extension, many people see colleges and universities as ignorant as well (despite employing multiple professors who are experts in their fields). These opinions, however, are completely false.
As a university student myself, I know firsthand the rigors of academia, and everyone should learn what university students go through each week. Many Union residents have adult children in a college or university, and sometimes they do not understand the challenges their college students face. Therefore, by learning this information, maybe some myths about the college experience will be clarified.
The first issue I notice when viewing a social media post that bashes college students is the idea that we are ignorant of national and world issues.
This, however, is far from the truth.
College students are learning new information every day; most college students must pass a basic political science or history course in order to graduate, which means that we probably have some knowledge of American politics (especially if said college student majors or minors in political science or history). This similarly applies to other areas as well.
Furthermore, each college student studies a specific field under the instruction of experts in that field, so claiming that university students lack knowledge is an insult to that student’s hard work at the college level. We literally take entire classes about a given subject. By extension, no degree is “useless,” and any degree option offers a wide range of job opportunities in many fields (I have discussed this in depth before. The research does exist).
While not every college student walks away from his or her college experience with this knowledge, most gain competent education that serves them for the rest of their lives.
In addition to this, many people also have an ignorant perception of the college experience and fail to understand the amount of work many college students actually do. The general perception of the college experience is one of partying and laziness. While parties do exist (just like everywhere else) and while some students are lazy, most college students primarily worry about their studies.
The average college student takes 15 hours of classes a week. Although this does not sound like much, this number is multiplied by two or three hours to account for homework and other outside work. This equals 30 to 45 hours of schoolwork in one week, and students often work on school work for seven days a week, which is why students are called full-time students; the weekly hours equal that of most full-time jobs (This also does not include the students who also work while in college). While this rule does not apply to all students, this does apply to the majority; therefore, assuming that college students have a ton of free time is simply false.
The majority of college students undergo this ordeal every week in order to better their futures. Because of all the false assumptions about university life and college students, many students can get disheartened by their friends and family believing and articulating this nonsense.
Instead of assuming these things about college students, maybe allow them to rest at least a little on breaks. Support their progress in college, and do not call their degrees “worthless.”
A community supports members of all ages and all backgrounds, and Union is a close-knit community that many college students call home. They deserve community support like everyone else because college students work hard too. I have given a brief introduction to the many challenges that college students face on a weekly basis. Hopefully, this will inspire a people in our community to support our college students and help them when they can. After all, college students ought to benefits from our community too.
