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I'm posting this on the broader Education board because I hope to get more responses than just the College/University board. (It's already in the NYC forum).
Recently here, a talented young Columbia U student disappeared from school, where she was a science student, only to turn up a few weeks later living the Bohemian life in Williamsburg. She'd set off a frantic citywide search because she told no she was dropping out (except for a few friends), left her dorm w/o telling anyone, skipped classes and finals, changed her phone number and bank account, sold her clothes and belongings, and didn't answer the new phone -- even when her frantic mother called. But eventually the cops found her.
Lots of kids are unhappy at college, and that can be compounded if you're black at a mostly white, elite, sink-or-swim (so he says. i don't really believe that myself) institution and no longer the smartest kid in the class.
Some folks think she is just an ungrateful, entitled brat. Some take her at her word that she is trying to do what she really wants and not what she's been groomed to do. I wonder about her isolation and possible (clinical) depression.
What do you think? Is it an educational issue, a race issue, a therapeutic issue, or something else?
Last edited by citylove101; 05-31-2016 at 11:18 AM..
Yeah, I'm leaning toward that answer myself and hope she's getting some therapeutic help. Lots of kids want to change majors or leave college altogether. That happens all the time. But the way she did it was totally inappropriate.
Since we don't know the individual, we really don't know what's going on. But she wouldn't be the first one to chuck it all. You'll find students every year at every college around the country doing the same thing. Some just pack up and leave in the middle of the day. Roommate comes back to an empty room. Could be many reasons, from plain old homesickness, to can't handle the academic pace of college, to hate the food.
At least she just left, not like the guy my freshman year who slit his wrists and when he woke up decided that wasn't working so he took a high dive off the math building.
If she does't pull it together, she's going to be kicking herself in about 20 years. This happens more than we know. I think the average college graduation rate is at 58% and it takes an average of 6 years of those who do graduate to get their diploma.
I'm not talking about her specifically since in my life, I've seen several situations where people could not handle whatever "it" was.
I wish her luck, but I'd have to admit, it was a story I skipped over, so I don't know the details. Or maybe the story hit too close to home since I had a family member drop off her kids to another family member and do something very similar.
Nothing mentally wrong she simply could not take her lifestyle and bailed out. If I don't give two craps about these types of people, it comes from an honest place.
If she does't pull it together, she's going to be kicking herself in about 20 years. (snip).
or maybe not.
a college degree has value for some folk and some career paths where the credentials and education are required.
But that's not always the case. Witness the numbers of low paying liberal arts degree opportunities or the many folk with such degrees who aren't working in their degree field.
for others, it turns out to not be so needed to getting along in life, including being happy and making a living.
You cite a high percentage of folk who don't graduate from college ... not all of them turn out to be losers and or economic failures just because they didn't graduate. Nor do you present any evidence that they go on to lead unhappy, unproductive lives.
While the manner in which the OP's subject cut her ties to school was perhaps a bit extreme, what you cannot know is her personal situation ... perhaps family finances or pressures ... which made such a decision her preferred choice.
As well, I know a fair number of college drop-outs who have achieved a lifetime of happiness, good health, and financial success consistent with their needs and wants.
There's a lot of snobbery about having that college degree. For many, it's an expensive ticket to nowhere.
I don't think she is crazy. I think maybe she found herself. There was a lot of pressure out there for her. Everything she cut out was a form of pressure including her mom. I suspect she just wanted some time to think without a lot of questions. If she had told people what she wanted to do beforehand, there would have been questions. I'm not sure what her real obligations were and which were no longer true obligations once she decided to make a change. Maybe a note to her mom would have been nice. Other than that... does it matter if you don't withdraw from school or don't take finals if you have no intention of staying in school or using that education?
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