Which of us cannot recall the horror with which either we have either entered college life or seem to visualize it to be? College life is after all the ultimate step into a life that trains for the practical world. The practical world is a world that frowns upon the slightest of mistakes and is immensely competitive as well.
College is the training ground for this battle which we have to fight every day for our lives. From academics to the social activities-each area is demanding and highly intensive. The academics world offers a world of opportunities but it all comes at a heavy cost.
A cost which is paid by intensive hours of study and hours spend in the library. The research required in it is pretty extensive as each assignment is much more complex than anything that the student has done before. This ability to research and write is, therefore, the honing of the mental and writing capacity. The seminars, tutorials are added elements that allow the student to gain insight into other areas which does not affect them directly but connects them to the real world nonetheless.
Examples can be quoted from visiting professors who enlighten the college students on international issues and other related issues which affect us all as citizens of the world. The international developments allow the college students to be aware of the world which operates around them and of which they will be a part soon.
The sort of work required is a level which is much higher than the student has ever been used to and the requirements are therefore much more exacting as well. The work has to be of a certain standard, cannot be plagiarized and hence, requires careful attention and focus.
Not only are academics hugely demanding but even social life is a demanding area. The fraternity house set up allows for the compartmentalization of the student body and hence, that in essence creates pressure on the students to gain an invitation to a popular house, maintain a certain status in the fraternity house or make sure that the person is invited to all the “parties”.
These parties are not the high school parties but the level of drugs, liquor found at these places results in a pretty dangerous environmental setting. For those students who get easily influenced or for those who are heavily overworked and require a “way out”; these activities can be pretty tempting and therefore, the reason for most of the students dropping out of college. Their capabilities get affected by these negative activities and hence, their work quality suffers.
The work pressure is already quite tough and therefore, a student whose capabilities have been affected so cannot possibly keep up.
The long hours spent at the library mean sacrifices of certain social activities at times but the results can be beneficial; as the top students are those who can grab better jobs and are more easily noticed by the recruitment agencies. The sort of work done and achievements gained to determine the sort of entry that the college student would gain into the real world.
The positions are few and quite competitive and therefore, at every level, college life tests us accordingly. Whether it is delivering assignments on deadlines, performing complicated practicals, delivering a thesis, or presenting a report in front of the entire class-college life is intensively focused on honing the skills of us all.
The above statements are only a minor insight into what is demanded from the student body on the college level.
References
Alatas, Syed Farid, “From Jamiah to University: Multiculturalism and Christian–Muslim Dialogue”, Current Sociology 54 (1): 112-132.
Toby E. Huff (2003), The Rise of Early Modern Science: Islam, China, and the West, Cambridge University Press, pp. 77-8.