2008 Woodie Awards
The Real World: Graduation
Nicole Daddona
Issue date: 2/27/08 Section: Life/styles
Throughout history the college campus has been a place of activism and bubbling ambition. From anti-war protests to rallies to bring awareness to important issues, college students have been at the forefront of countless movements in our nation. What is it that makes college students so fiery? Why do so many grassroots movements begin with college students? Is it because college students are rich? Not likely. Loud? Some. Incredibly business minded? Rarely. No, no, no. In order to fully understand the reason why so many grassroots movements take place on college campuses, one must understand what makes up the fabric of a college student. Combine a great deal of curiosity, passion, hope, open-mindedness, and vision and the result will be a college student.
College is a unique time. It is the four years between childhood and adulthood. It is the first time that an individual will dictate his or her own life. A college student gets to be his or her own social director, chef, disciplinarian and overall guardian for the first time. College is also the last time that there is a clearly defined "next step" to take in life.
Prior to college, life has had a fairly undeniable direction. First is babyhood (ah, babyhood). Babies become toddlers and eventually children who are sent to pre-school. Pre-school leads into elementary school and elementary school to middle school. From middle school the next obvious step is high school. After high school some students drop out of the educational race and pursue other ventures, such as work experience or travel, but for many, college is the next clear step to take.
But then what? Some college graduates will continue their academic careers as graduate students, but what about those who feel like an undergraduate degree is all they need? There is the predictable answer-get a job, bud sadly without the proper guidance getting a job can mean losing much of what makes a college student a college student-namely, their fiery nature.
College is a unique time. It is the four years between childhood and adulthood. It is the first time that an individual will dictate his or her own life. A college student gets to be his or her own social director, chef, disciplinarian and overall guardian for the first time. College is also the last time that there is a clearly defined "next step" to take in life.
Prior to college, life has had a fairly undeniable direction. First is babyhood (ah, babyhood). Babies become toddlers and eventually children who are sent to pre-school. Pre-school leads into elementary school and elementary school to middle school. From middle school the next obvious step is high school. After high school some students drop out of the educational race and pursue other ventures, such as work experience or travel, but for many, college is the next clear step to take.
But then what? Some college graduates will continue their academic careers as graduate students, but what about those who feel like an undergraduate degree is all they need? There is the predictable answer-get a job, bud sadly without the proper guidance getting a job can mean losing much of what makes a college student a college student-namely, their fiery nature.
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