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2nd Worst City in CA8938 Posts
I read most of the blogs on Teamliquid. In the more personal blogs relating to school and academic issues, a sense of urgency is usually portrayed or implied.
This post will mainly be directed towards those who are unable to handle the pressures of school. Please keep this in mind as you read on.
Society and parents often thrust upon the youth what I feel is a ridiculous notion: work your hardest nonstop through high school and college in the span of eight years. By doing so, your chances of success will be great.
At first look, this does not seem like a ridiculous idea at all. One should always strive for success and should employ themselves 100% to any task required of them. This I agree with; it is hard not to agree with.
But a very simple, and very crucial, part of life is often overlooked: youth.
Let's put this into perspective. From high school and throughout college you are required to put most of your energy into academics. To ensure you maintain the grades your parents expect of you, you pour your soul out onto books; you are burdened by the stresses that accompany your parents' demands. What little free time you may dally with is but a minuscule break from a reality forced upon you.
What arises, through the sweat and painstaking labor of your studies, at the other end of these pressures? Is it success?
One is inclined to say yes, success does await (this, however, is not an issue pertaining to success; it is an issue pertaining to the cost of a success that could be achieved without the complete sacrifice of one's youth).
But after college, what actually awaits you is more distress; the strains of a job and obligations towards your new parents: your superiors. Before you know it, your youth has passed you by. You have grown into a one-dimensional being; the one thing you are equipped with is great work ethic.
When do you enjoy the world?
You threw eight years away for your studies, and your life is now dedicated to work. For some of you, your job is not something you chose out of interest, but chose to ensure financial stability throughout your life in response to your parents' needs. The worst part about it is, you are only 21/22-years-old, about a quarter of a way through life, and only a third of the way towards retirement. If you attend medical school, your youth in its entirety disappears.
And yet your memories do not bloom with innocent smiles.
I cannot stress this enough: please enjoy yourself while you are still young. There is an entire world out there for you to experience--mountains of pleasure, oceans full of dreams, a sky of endless possibilities, and the lighthearted nature of friendship.
Regardless of what your parents or society may think, slowing down and embracing your youth is not a bad thing. I argue that it is a necessity that all humans should have the opportunity to partake in. A one year break from college is nothing compared to a lifetime, and may go a long way in your progress as an individual.
TL;dr: Completing college in four years or five makes no difference when applying for a job. Sometimes a step back is necessary, so enjoy life and make sure you don't burn yourself out for no reason.
After thought:
Community colleges are equipped with their own stigmas, but I can assure you, they may be exactly what you need.
For those who are unable to maintain their grades in high school, enrolling in community college after graduation and transferring to a university brings about the same results as attending that particular university for a full four years. Of course, you wouldn't be able to get into any Ivy Leagues, but if you aren't able to maintain your GPA then you wouldn't be able to get into one anyway. On the other hand, you may be able to transfer to universities that rejected you.
I know many people who have attended community college even after receiving tremendous grades throughout high school all for the sake of saving their parents and themselves money. And since community college courses are generally easier, there are those who finish all their GEs in a single year, transfer, and graduate after two years of Uni for a total of three years in college. Either way, it has no bearing when you apply for a job.
Just another possibility for those who think your life is over if you don't do well in high school.
 
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 this blog speaks the truth 5/5
the whole point of academics is to prepare people to do a 9-5 job
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we should age backwards, that way we get all the education while we're frail and ugly, working ages are the same, and then when we're retired we're attractive and energetic (and also not stupid)
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-er... double post mod needs to delete-
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2nd Worst City in CA8938 Posts
^
Hence, nowhere in my post did I ever say 'don't go to college' or 'quit college all together.'
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Really well written. I was freaking out about an audition for a music program at a different college today. I'm 17 (Already done 1 year of college... Yeah eastern Canada is weird), and the guy auditioning before me was twenty five. He was a fantastic drummer, much better than me. It only makes sense though, he's been drumming about twice as long as me. I should have felt nervous to hear that he was 8 years older than me and competing for the same few spots as a jazz drummer, but it really chilled me out. For this reason: I realized that I could apply for this program 16 more times and I'd still be as young and energetic as this other applicant. Suddenly missing out on this other college didn't seem so bad. Then again I might still get in.
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You go to school to secure your future so that you will have opportunities to go where you want and do what you like later in life. You should be enjoying your youth every day. If you're not then you're probably playing too much Starcraft. You're not sacrificing anything by preparing for the future unless your idea of youth is being a hedonist. A year away from college is just a year away from college. It's not equivalent to being true to yourself.
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I enjoy the standard of living I have right now and I can't imagine living in a lower socio-economic bracket. My parent's build order was to go to university for a degree in business (their educational background). If I want to maintain this standard of living or surpass it it means my build order must be the same, and even better if I want to surpass it. I believe that it is the responsibility of the child(i.e. me) to maintain, if not elevate the family's socio-economic background and as such(at least in my case) going straight into university is a must.
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2nd Worst City in CA8938 Posts
I don't like debating about things like this because it's obviously just opinion, but when someone makes a post where it seems like they didn't even read the OP it gets quite irritating.
On March 13 2011 13:51 McDonalds wrote:
You go to school to secure your future so that you will have opportunities to go where you want and do what you like later in life.
Never said anything was bad about school, in fact if you read carefully I said striving for success is what you should be doing.
You should be enjoying your youth every day. If you're not then you're probably playing too much Starcraft.
Studying everyday is not enjoyable unless you like studying. Did you not read what I said about this post being directed towards those who struggle with school or about parental pressures?
You're not sacrificing anything by preparing for the future unless your idea of youth is being a hedonist.
Not sure what being a hedonist has anything to do with here. I'm merely saying people should not rush themselves through school and towards a career. There's more time in the world than people think, and youth is one fleeting part of life that is incredibly important.
A year away from college is just a year away from college. It's not equivalent to being true to yourself.
Again, this was directed towards those who struggle; a year away from college can be the break they need to get themselves back on track.
Not sure if you didn't closely read the OP or if I'm misunderstanding your post, but it seems to conflict in an irrelevant way.
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2nd Worst City in CA8938 Posts
On March 13 2011 13:55 The_LiNk wrote:
I enjoy the standard of living I have right now and I can't imagine living in a lower socio-economic bracket. My parent's build order was to go to university for a degree in business (their educational background). If I want to maintain this standard of living or surpass it it means my build order must be the same, and even better if I want to surpass it. I believe that it is the responsibility of the child(i.e. me) to maintain, if not elevate the family's socio-economic background and as such(at least in my case) going straight into university is a must.
I would like to hear why going straight into university is a must unless you're going straight into an Ivy League. It seems to me like you're not struggling with academics and parental pressures anyway, so this post is not directed towards you.
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wow this is appropriate, i just finished watching dead poets society.
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I'm not really sure how to respond to your response because to me your original post was "here are a bunch of vague aphorisms that might not apply to you" and now the tone of your response is like "I wasn't talking to those people anyway". Everybody has difficulty with some part of school at some point in time. If you really meant to restrict the whole thing to victims of strict Asian parents who can't graduate unless they do nothing but study all the time then fine, but that's a caricature. Besides, university is as much of a social experience as anything else, and you don't stop being young when you get your degree.
My post originally started with "romanticized baloney" but I didn't want to be mean. 
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2nd Worst City in CA8938 Posts
On March 13 2011 14:56 McDonalds wrote:
If you really meant to restrict the whole thing to victims of strict Asian parents who can't graduate unless they do nothing but study all the time then fine, but that's a caricature. Besides, university is as much of a social experience as anything else, and you don't stop being young when you get your degree.
Well, actually, it was meant to be towards 'victims of strict Asian parents,' but then I remembered other people posting about how their parents were the same though they weren't Asian, so I decided to broaden it.
And yeah, you don't stop being young when you get your degree, but for the most part you end up getting a job and have little free time on your hands, though if you're going to medical school then yeah, you pretty much are not very young by the time you're finished.
This is just what I've experienced and what my friends often tell me themselves. It's certainly not limited to everyone, and so I tried to address a very specific group of people. Those who are able to enjoy themselves throughout school or those who are able to handle parental pressures and academics are different stories.
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I totally agree with this. As important as studying is, what's the purpose of life if you never get to enjoy it? I know it's been said that even with all of our everyday conveniences, the average American (I'm sure this applies somewhat to other countries as well) has less free time than they did in the past.
That's why you should really try to go into a field you feel very passionate about. This means if you don't need to attend college to do what you like, by all means, don't bother. If you've got a great idea for something right out of high school, go for it. A lot of incredibly successful (and rich) people dropped out of college because they had the chance to do something great and college was only getting in the way (i.e. Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, etc.).
Society labels college as the "normal" thing to do and everything else as inferior. If a trade school advances your goals and applies to your interests, don't worry about college. In the end, happiness is what counts and I'm sure everyone knows: money does not equal happiness.
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Well I wouldn't say that I particularly enjoyed school. There were classes in university I enjoyed, which would make sense because I chose them. Others were requirements, some of which I didn't enjoy at all. But the longest I had any one subject in a week in terms of class time was three hours. I certainly had to set aside some time to study, yeah. But to the point of having no free time? Not really, and I'm not sure I knew anyone who had that problem. I very often had essays to write on the weekends, or during holidays, but it didn't prevent me from doing things that young people do.
If something DID prevent me from doing what young people do, it was myself. In my view, the biggest obstacle to enjoying whatever free time you do have is having poor time management skills.
There's something to be said for packing a bag and venturing out into the world for a while. However I wouldn't frame it as anything like making the most of your youth exactly. To me there's too much worry in that line of thought. I'd say that you should do it, if you can, for the life experience. Not because you're young and should enjoy your youth before it's gone but because those kinds of experiences help shape you as a person, and might change your trajectory a bit in the end. You just have to be careful not to expect anything.
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2nd Worst City in CA8938 Posts
I completely agree with you.
But unlike you or me or many other people, there are those who just outright struggle to balance life with school and fall into a deep hole. I've witnessed it many times.
At those times it is not a bad idea to just take a step back and get a little breather. Ideally people push themselves so that they can burn through four years of university, but for those people who are unable to, it is not by any means a bad thing to relax and take a semester or so off. I honestly don't see a reason why someone has to rush; whether you obtain your first degree in four or five years makes absolutely no difference in the grand scheme of things.
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I think I would have found less to object to if the original post was written more along those lines.
Of course, there are parents who won't continue to support a student who wants to take time off. And there are students who might be better off taking Calculus II directly after Calculus I instead of a year later, for example. So there are a number of things to think about.
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I think the main issue with a lifestyle like this is that there is a lack of disciple. I think its pretty obvious to me just from empirical evidence that discipline is what allows people to pursue goals, meet challenges and achieve meaningful things in their lives. It seems that kids who are allowed to just enjoy themselves will struggle to apply themselves to things later in life.
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2nd Worst City in CA8938 Posts
It really just depends on what you mean by "allow to enjoy themselves." There's always that line between too much and too little.
Just because you take a break from school doesn't mean you're undisciplined. I think it's notions like these that really cause some people to suffer. Some people can achieve much more if you let them relax, and also, some people can just completely fall apart if pushed past their own individual limit.
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EPT
