Writing Center

Writing Proficiency Exam Article II

College Not Apart from ‘Real World’

 “Welcome to the real world.”

 It is the phrase that most people quote when greeting college graduates, aside from “you have been preapproved for a credit card,” and it is quickly becoming redundant and, quite frankly, annoying.

 No doubt, it often is said with love and affection, easing off of the lips disgruntled office workers, perhaps wishing they could escape back to those “safe” college years when Ma and Pa were sending checks in the mail and their only worries were how they were going to get the keg into their buddies’ dormitory. To those poor souls, college represents the days when the world was reduced to barbecue, bad beer and homecoming football games.

 Well, college isn’t how they remember it. Things aren’t the way they used to be.

 My recent alma mater is an institution nestled in the foothills of Montana, with an enrollment of fewer than 1,000. We had our share of barbecue, bad beer, and football games. But, unless my memory already has been glossed over by nostalgia, we had plenty of “the real world” as well. One of my classmates was killed in a drunken driving accident and was listed in my commencement program as a posthumous graduate.

 The dormitory halls were filled with tales, both speculated and official, of sexual and physical assault. A young man visiting our campus during an athletic-related weekend was assaulted, urinated upon and threatened. He later refused to file charges because he was embarrassed to go public.

 There were many students, both male and female, who were seriously contemplating suicide, and there was at least one “accidental” overdose that later was classified as an attempted suicide. Also rampant were cases of drug and alcohol abuse, students with eating disorders, and students facing chronic depression. And there were students struggling with the everyday pressures that plague us all: bills that were overdue, friendly phone calls from collectors and part-time jobs that paid the minimum wage.

 My first year on campus, I lived across the hall from a 47 year old man who had lost his job after 25 years of hard work. “Sent back to school” because his services weren’t needed anymore, he found himself far from his family and his dreams of early retirement. There were students suffering from learning disorders, students who were married, students with children, students who were single mothers – the list is endless.

 My best friend in college suffers from a congenital condition that severly limits his sight. He also is on the dean’s list and will be enrolling in postgraduate studies soon. He was quite delighted, as were all of us, to discover that the life he is living isn’t “real.” He eagerly anticipates the arrival of “the real world.”

 Perhaps I am too concerned about this “term of endearment.” Perhaps I should welcome it with open arms. It is quite probable that what is meant by this saying is that we are just embarking on a new journey with a whole new set of rules. One could argue that this colloquialism is a better way of saying, “Leave your education at the door and come on in.”

 I can’t speak for all of the brave new recruits of “the real world,” but I don’t plan to leave my education at the door. My immediate plan is to continue my search for knowledge. I fully understand that my education will serve a much greater purpose than just functioning financially in a capitalistic world. One hopes it will provide for more than good benefits and a good retirement plan. However, one thing is for sure: We have been here all along. Now, we just hoe to get paid for it.

-- Timothy Miller lives in Lancaster