The Time of Your Life
By Marshall Remmele
marshall@thepurduereview.com
In a few dats when your parents are driving off in the distance, and your mom is balling as she waves goodbye, it will set in that for the first time in your life you are really free. For the past six months everyone has been telling you about college, how the friends that you make in college will stick with you for the rest of your life, that this is going to be the best time of your life, blah blah blah.
All this may be true, but these cheesy clichés miss the point, and the false impressions they create are ruining higher education. You are part of the one of biggest Freshman class in Purdue University history, and the sad reality is that only 55% of the people around you will manage to graduate in six years according to Purdue statistics. That means that the other 45% of people probably took all the advice they had been getting a little too seriously.
The purpose of college isn't about the friends you will make or the parties you will go to; the purpose of college is to make you into a productive citizen. That is why you aren't paying $40,000 a year for your education. The people of this state think it is so important that you be afforded the opportunity to go to college, that they heavily subsidize the costs of your education. Whether you like it or not that means you have a responsibility to your fellow Hoosiers to make the most of your opportunity.
It's easy to get caught up in your newly afforded freedom and forget about that responsibility. Just because your parents aren't here doesn't mean that you have to act like a drunken jackass. In fact if you actually want to prove something, prove that you can be a useful member of society. Go to class, get involved in groups that actually do something to improve the lot of humanity.
Everyone today probably told you about the importance of "getting involved," but that advice doesn't go far enough. You should get involved with something that actually makes a difference. Students in college should be preparing to change the world, and there are a lot of great organizations on campus that prepare you to do just that. Unfortunately after four years of college most students aren't prepared to change anything but the sheets on their bed.
You can have a lot of self indulgent fun in college, but that is all you have to show for your time in college, what contribution have you made? If you aren't the altruistic type, what employable skills have you gained? Most companies don't consider your beer pong prowess as a valid job qualification.
So enjoy college, but try to pretend like you actually learned something in the 18 years you have spent preparing for college. Study for your classes, learn something about your new community, and get involved in something important. Since you picked up a newspaper amidst all the other free crap at BGR, chances are you are on the right track. The fact that you are actually reading it is even better. And finally, for my last piece of advice, throw away most of that junk you felt compelled to pick up at BGR, it piles up in your dorm room quickly.