College: Lessons in Adulthood by Trey

College: Lessons in Adulthood by Trey - November 2016 Scholarship Essay

The world is a big place. It spans 7 continents, nearly 200 countries, and hundreds of languages. You can cross it in many different ways, by air, water, road, rails. It’s got 7 billion inhabitants of thousands of color combinations, a myriad different personalities. Everybody is different. The world is also a scary place. Walking through the streets of just about any town in any country (except Switzerland and Canada), it is possible you run into street thugs, drug dealers, robbers, or just really out-there people. On top of that, once you enter this world, you’re expected to hold down a job, with a house to pay, a car, and maybe a family. It’s extremely overwhelming if you think about it for too long, and some people just aren’t cut out for it. That is why college is so important.
When you go to college, you go for three reasons: The worst (and unfortunately, most popular) reason is to go party, get drunk, maybe meet a hot chick or guy. And sure, that may be fun if you do it occasionally, but doing it too often can result in you getting kicked out into that world discussed earlier. The second reason is so you can get that bachelor’s degree in whatever you really wanted, so you can get a good paying job. And there’s nothing wrong with that, sometimes you just gotta follow the money. But the final reason is, in my opinion, the most important: the reason you go to college is to get valuable real-world experience.
There is one thing that, personally, I’ve had to overcome once I thought about it, and it’s something that a lot of people tend not to think about: whether or not you want it, time will move forward, and inevitably, life follows. Regardless of your desires, if you’re a senior in high school, and you want to actually succeed, you more than likely have to go to college. And the problem is this: you can’t just hit the pause button, or loop the same day over and over, so that you can get everything done in time. Time is like a train with no brakes: it goes forever and ever, and it doesn’t care who it runs over.
You think about this, and you’re thinking, how can I possibly deal with life in the amount of time I have? It seems as though every second something new comes up, and I have to rectify that issue before I can start on the next one, and it won’t ever end. This is why you need to go to college. Think of it as a sort of go-between of high school and the real world. In high school, you just learn and learn about things you’re not likely to use in an actual job. And in the real world, you have to pay bills, you have to live somewhere, and you need a job.
But in college, everything is moderated. You actually learn some valuable stuff, and you have to pay dues here. You want to live not with your parents? Sure, a couple thousand dollars. You can eat every day, as much as you want. But for a fee, of course. The professors act a lot like bosses: they set deadlines, don’t remind you about them, and if you miss them, sorry. You may not lose your job, but you will definitely get a grade hit.
If you want an even better real-world experience, you can do a work study job. A work study job is essentially a job that is on-campus, which is nice because they are most likely to work around your class schedule to get maximum hours. Typically, you don’t get a paycheck, but they do pay for some of your fees.
But, most of all, the absolute biggest thing about college: the professors WILL treat you like adults. Good and bad, whatever you do, it’s done as an adult. You’re expected to be an adult in the real world, so the professors expect the same here. But it isn’t all bad; this also means the professors are more likely to treat you as equals. I’ve done a few sit-ins of classes in college, and the professor actually sat at the same desks the students sat in, and the whole class was a discussion, where everybody’s opinions were treated fairly and equally.
College can seem intimidating if you aren’t fully prepared, but don’t let that scare you from it. It gives you a glimpse into the real world that you won’t ever get from high school, and you’ll take lessons from it that you will apply throughout your life.