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My late 20's and 30's were WAY better than college. Now that I am married, not so exciting. Keep the college outlook and live it as long as you can. Live cheap and do a lot of stuff. Way more fun than living in an expensive home and supporting a family, IMHO.
If you think high school/college were the best years of your life than the rest of your life must really suck.
College isn't supposed to be "an experience" it is supposed to give you the skills to find gainful employment to sustain you throughout life. Too many people have invested themselves in the experience.
If you think high school/college were the best years of your life than the rest of your life must really suck.
College isn't supposed to be "an experience" it is supposed to give you the skills to find gainful employment to sustain you throughout life. Too many people have invested themselves in the experience.
College was more intellectually stimulating, for me, than any job I've had. The ability to meet and connect with all sorts of people, young and old, from different walks of life, also scores some points on why it was great.
If you think high school/college were the best years of your life than the rest of your life must really suck.
College isn't supposed to be "an experience" it is supposed to give you the skills to find gainful employment to sustain you throughout life. Too many people have invested themselves in the experience.
College was never designed to be a glorified vocational school. It was (at one time) a place to become educated and expand your horizons. Now for many, it's just a place you go so you can check off the "have degree" box on a job application.
College was more intellectually stimulating, for me, than any job I've had. The ability to meet and connect with all sorts of people, young and old, from different walks of life, also scores some points on why it was great.
Work is not about being intellectually stimulated. One of the biggest lies of the last 20 years is the mantra of "do what you love and you'll never work again". Most of the time the things you love are the same as the things everyone else loves and the pay reflects that. Just look at the pay for social workers, psychologist, teachers and zoo keepers as examples.
I would love to hang out with friends and enjoy their company all day, go on bikes, travel and a host of other things. Life requires me to work instead of doing these things I enjoy.
By working hard now I will be more comfortable later on in life.
Th fi So, it seems to me that the people who say they miss college are people who never have an ambition to excel in life while the people who can't even fathom the idea of going back to school are people who are on top of things in the real world.
Uh.
I am a doctor.
I think that presumes some ambition.
Still loved and had a great time in college. Do miss certain aspects, especially the variety of intellectually stimulating subjects offered. No one wants a doc who finds their job challenging. If you're good, you don't. So it is mundane.
That is a part of it. I think also people like myself who preferred college are people who value free time over material wealth, and who are interested in intellectual stimulation. I think that a big part is also what your college experience was like. I had a full academic scholarship, and I didn't need to study a lot to get good grades, so college was easy for me. The students who had to work full time to pay tuition, and who struggled academically may prefer the real world.
I agree. Gaining knowledge and having interesting experiences is far more important than just slaving away for a paycheck. Although you do need money (and often a lot of it) to do all those things, so the big paycheck is very much a necessity.
I would love to hang out with friends and enjoy their company all day, go on bikes, travel and a host of other things. Life requires me to work instead of doing these things I enjoy.
I have a friend who does this. They live off their spouse who is wealthy and they are in a cool part of the city, and they walk around all day going to cafes and museums, juice shops, etc. Planning all week for the weekend.
Certain people could do it, but I couldn't.
If I was independently wealthy, I'd work more hours than I do now.
I didn't get the prototypical college experience and I have had my regrets over that. I commuted to school, didn't really get involved on campus, didn't make many friends, etc.
When I look back, it felt a lot like just going to a job for a paycheck. Overall it was a neutral experience for me.
Now I am working in a position with an opportunity to make a career for myself. There are struggles of course, but the upside seems better than the upside of having a piece of paper called a college degree. I am glad I obtained the degree though.
I recently read a quote online that seemed to resonate with me, as it probably does others who miss their college experience: "When transitioning from college to the working world, one goes from having no money and a lot of time to having money and little time."
Going back to the quote referenced above, my life outside college has gotten better ten-fold as far as money and home life are concerned.
However, the flexibility that college afforded is something most of us will never experience again. Being in an office 40+ hours a week, where you're forced to listen to and work with people you may not particularly like, starts to suck after a while. In college, once class ends, you get the hell out.
In college, you are also graded objectively for your work. If you study your ass off, you'll earn an A or B. You have graduation to look forward to. You always know which classes you have to take next.
The real world isn't as clear cut and tidy. You might get stuck in a dead end job or working with people/bosses who make your life miserable. You're not as in control of the situation. Whereas in college you can simply drop the class, it isn't as easy to quit a job cold turkey when you have bills to pay.
It was even worse for me since I worked on a favors system so I got to live like I had money without actually having much money. Plus the free time and all easy access to friends and girls.
It wasn't until recently when I've had more money than any other time in my life that I've found how little money truly matters (beyond a certain point). I mean I'd always had a vague idea, but now I know.
I work harder and more now (and seem to have a lot of free time, I just never seem to sleep) than I ever have. Part of that is for "the man" in a traditional job and part is through freelancing (which is better since I'm my own boss, but it can be isolating) and I've fallen into this sort of routine where everything becomes a timed "to do" item on my checklist including things I'm meant to enjoy.
What I've found is that I might not ever reach those lofty moments of delirious happiness I can still work to have more freedom. Being in control of your life and not having to answer to a boss is a pretty good compromise.
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Originally Posted by Wordsmith12
Not to mention I miss the intellectual stimulation of the college setting. Corporate America, by comparison, is so bland. Yes, it's great to get paid to work as opposed to forking over your own money to get a degree. But I have always been an A student/overachiever in school my whole life. It was a chief part of my identity through college; I have felt something of a void in this area since graduating.
I probably miss this more than most anything else. What's worse is the group of interesting friends I had gathered throughout my travels have become remarkably less interesting as time has gone on. Part of that was just the process of moving into another life stage (kids, marriage, etc.), but part of it I still can't explain.
Many of the people I run into these days that pass for intellectual types have read the books and can parrot the information back, but don't really have many thoughts of their own.
When I worked in Corporate America I seem to remember being surrounded by people who could hold an intelligent conversation and joke around (at least some of them), but so many of those people I worked with seemed incredibly lame.
I was an underachiever except when it came to things that interested me. College was easy for me as well. I miss the project aspect and the variety. Things changed, but generally in a good way. In the real world? Yeah, change is usually not so great.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wordsmith12
That's why I am not sure what I can do to reintegrate myself into the college environment.
Speaking as someone who went back (employers kept insisting I needed these extra skills, but once I got out with my shiny new degree I kept getting "You're overqualified.") I wouldn't suggest it.
The financial drawback of the loan payments I have now (on top of the original payments) wasn't worth it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wordsmith12
Have you found life after college to be less or more exciting than your college years? If you could, would you go back someday -- whether to pursue a master's or work there?
Mostly less exciting, but I'm also not looking to have kids and marriage isn't high on the priorities list (although may happen at some point) so unlike a number of people there isn't really a life path mapped out for people like myself.
The closest I've come is when I took a year off, moved to another city, hung out with old friends, worked on what I am passionate about (albeit have since failed at turning it into a career), and dated a lot. But then again I'm good with women, enjoy flirting, and am sensitive to changes in environment. Just a day trip to another city can lift my spirits.
If you haven't tried traveling yet I'd look into that first. If that's not an option or helpful I'd try getting a small group of good friends based around some hobby that takes a decent amount of work to master (Jr. year of HS through a bit of college I got into a card game called Mtg, which is incredibly geeky, but I found very satisfying).
Also, whenever possible, never take a job for the money.
Failing that you can always marry up like my little cousin. Won't ever have to work a day in her life from here on out if she doesn't want to work.
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