College was cheap, easy, and fun

Remember when almost any middle class family could afford to send a kid to a state-supported university? If you had been anything other than a goof-off, dumb-ass, shithead in high school, then your grades were good enough to get you in, and you could party every weekend like it was 1999.

arty:

A lot of my high school classmates had no interest in it, but now some of them have better jobs than the people who went to college.

 

College should be cheap and fun. Easy, I'm not so sure about.

 

Career wise it was a total waste of time.

They should provide Bachelor degrees in Ass Kissing, Brown Nosing, How to make it look like you know what you are talking about when you dont, and Screwing your collegues over. Cos thats what its really all about

 

They taught me almost everything I know today about business. Of course, I'm sure you consider yourself an expert on that too.

Nobody does a better job of pouring cold water on a nostalgia thread. Fuck off.

 

I had a lot of fun when I went. Lots of parties and you didn't have to have a thirty year loan to be able to attend. Some of the classes sucked but it was a very good time.

 

people who piss on college because it is a waste of time don't typically occupy high-paying or high-value job positions.

it IS a ripoff and a gamble

 

tell that to your doctors...
Or are you an expert at that also..

 

Well, I did say career wise, was useless for me, have it on the CV, but from memory dont think I've ever been asked for proof from an employer

Career wise that is, I did mine down in Wollongong, lived 100m from the beach for 4 years and was pretty much stoned the whole time, was a blas

But then went on to real life in the workforce, and it has pretty much been about ass kissing since

 

A friend of mine just graduated with a 4 year degree and 70K in debt for the privilege. And he had a job the whole time too, American college is ridiculously expensive.

It wasn't like that a few decades ago, student loans were a few thousand at most when you graduated.

But what is the other option? Asking if you would like fries with that for the rest of your life.

 

I didn't personally know anybody who had student loans back then. Either their parents paid for everything, or they got enough scholarship money to cover the rest. Everybody thought the tough part of college was doing the academic work, not finding a way to pay for it.

College was so cheap that some people got pushed into it who didn't really care to be there. They partied their asses off and picked majors like art history and anthropology, not having a clue what they might do with those degrees in the future.

It seemed to me that the first two years used to be mostly about learning how to live on your own, without your parents, and starting to think like a serious student. The tough academic content came in the last two years, after the college lifestyle had become second nature.

Now, besides borrowing tons of money and working part-time, most students have to do unpaid community service work. Community service? Isn't that what you get as part of a plea bargain when you don't want the judge to throw your ass in jail? They do that now to people who haven't been convicted of a crime?
:willy_nilly:

Or lifting heavy boxes for UPS. This generation is getting fucked over, big-time. What's the point of making a higher salary if you owe it all to the bank? And there is no guarantee of any job at all.

 

Same thing. Ever seen the movie "Animal House"? My high school was wilder than that, and college completely left it in the dust.
:reddevil:

 

I wish I could go to a state university for the social reasons. My friend in Boston University seems to really be reaping the benefits socially, activity-wise and having a lot of fun.

But there's NO WAY I'm going through the federal loan system, nor would I be able to handle the mass of homework. He was lucky enough to have part of it paid for because his family's wealthy, and he had the path carved out for him.

What about me? Well, I'm lost. Most days wasted doing nothing. At least I tried applying for jobs, and it looks like I have a high chance of getting one this summer. Just hope when my friend comes back this summer, it opens up new social opportunities for me and we're able to have a blast.

I'm aware of how education got fucked up by watching some of Ron Paul's speeches. heh

 

I wish I could of had that opportunity, I'm over here trying to figure out a career that isn't going to put e in a lifetime of debt anyway. So pointless to put yourself in debt to make more money. I'll be better off without university.

 

Same here, bro. The least I'm doing right now is taking an individual class at the local college about psychedelics, which luckily worked out and everything. Still have to get the book Higher Wisdom, though.

Besides that? I feel like I've been getting signs that I really should be pursuing my dreams and practicing guitar, so after getting my sleep schedule together I'm probably just going to be getting stoned, teaching myself guitar and conjuring up lyrics. Hanging out with friends when they're free and building social relations to the best of my ability. Also getting my spiritual life together. Pretty directionless otherwise. Hopefully some psych's make their way into my life soon. My last trip in January was definitely very enlightening.

 

Those days wont soon return to KJ, sadly :/

 

I've been spending a lot of time focusing on what I will do with life too. My last trip in May was amazing, primal screaming and crying, ego death... Good strong LSD dose. I'm looking forward to Americorps in October. Saving up a little money and doing a lot of thinking until then.

 

When I got out of the service I could go to a good university for $200 a semester. The VA paid for it and I had some remaining cash for books and living expenses. I also worked so even though I was a full time student I was doing OK. I did not own much, but I seemed to do more than I do now and might have had more fun. None of my higher education was a waste of time, and I use all but the Latin every day. Latin was a waste of time. I needed German or Chinese.

 

kind of. i mean, it's only been 6 years since i got my bachelor's, and that pretty much describes exactly what it was like then. except, several of my friends had been goof-off, dumb-ass, shitheads in high school and still managed to get in.

well that's kind of his fault for choosing to go to the most expensive school he could find. i have a master's degree and my total debt between undergrad and grad schools doesn't add up to half that.

yeah, that was pretty much my experience. it wasn't so much that it was cheap, but people knew that they were "supposed to" go, and it was affordable if not cheap, so they would go just to party until either they graduated or were kicked out for never attending class. also, the tough academic content didn't come until grad school, and then it wasn't really that tough either.

this is the first i've heard of that requirement.

 

Exactly.

I hear about it mostly from people I work with who have kids in college.

You know that in school, your budget and schedule are squeezed tight enough already with increased tuition, college loans, part time jobs, and homework, but now they have to add in time for unpaid work.

Back in the '80's, at most, 5% of the students I knew had part time jobs. Their middle-class parents had no trouble paying for everything, along with a car, in most cases. That was when you could get a new car for $6000.

 

Socialized education is needed. Eliminate war and waste from government and let everyone go as high with schooling as they are capable of. (dream on,Joel) And not even because of the necessity of obtaining jobs--but to smarten people up and teach them critical thinking. (keep dreaming).

 

i remeber there being NO instate tuition, if you lived in state long enough to establish residency, in the state of nevada, where i matriculated (1971). i also remember the community college system being created specifically to be tuition free, for everyone who couldn't afford to get into universities (late 70s).

it was never "easy", nor intended to be either easy nor hard. but i certainly remember it being fun, to be able to choose the things i wanted to learn, and enjoy learning them.