Here look at all the pretty organizations!
Today, when walking down the halls of my dorm, I looked at the haphazard green streamers hanging on the wall. They made me think about all the events that happen on campus seemingly every hour of every day. Not to mention all the social initiatives students are encouraged to participate in. “So this is another thing that’s supposed to distract me from the crushing weight of college, huh?” I know that’s quite a heavy dose of cynicism (potentially the result of the foreign matter I came in contact with when taking out the trash) but hear me out:
Most people can agree that college is hard. No matter the degree or concentration, if you’re actually trying to do a good job, you will have some rough patches. If it’s not suffocating from neverending assignments, then it’s probably the existential crisis of being a person in America who is now in thousands of dollars of debt for school. Either way, your mental health will be battling some kind of strife brought on solely due to the fact you’re in school.
And the colleges know this too. So they advertise the hundreds of student organizations they have on campus. They show the students playing on the grass and holding community events. All of these things are great, really, they are. But, they don’t get rid of unnecessary exams and meaningless yet tedious assignments, and most of all, they don’t get rid of the exorbitant cost of simply wanting an education.
Let’s not forget that all of these programs, clubs and organizations cost money. And who’s footing the bill? If you said the broke college students, you’re correct. Interestingly enough, despite how costly many of the aforementioned clubs and organizations are, they also bring in money. They appeal to parents who want their kids to have a safe college experience and high schoolers who want a fun one.
To me, all of these supplemental programs and initiatives show two things:
Colleges know it is important to have a campus that keeps students engaged in extracurricular activities that are fun and supplement their academic experience.
Colleges don’t want to spend the time or money to make institutional changes that will benefit all students, like lowering attendance costs or investing in practical curriculums.
Like I said, kind of cynical, but I thought it was interesting. And hey, maybe I’m a hypocrite for going to the ice cream socials. But now, when I take a free sample, I’ll be thinking about what it really means…
A distraction from the college’s mess.