- You can stay up as late as you want. Even if your family didn’t give you a specific bedtime, we all know the feeling of that family-imposed bedtime, the time of night when the rest of your family just goes upstairs into their separate rooms and passes out. And it would just be wrong if you didn’t do the same. In college, though, push that bedtime back for at least two hours. But you can go to bed earlier or later and no one will care! Sleep is a sacred thing in college and we can all understand that.
- You can eat whatever you want. Stressed out about exams and really want that White Mountain Ice Cream after already eating motz sticks? Treat yo self! There’s no mom over your shoulder reminding you about the calories and urging you to eat your greens. College does, however, enable you to begin your own healthy eating habits that you’ll be in need of down the road when you’re living in an apartment by yourself.
- You can cry about your mistakes to your parents without getting in trouble, because when you aren’t under their roof, you can do nothing wrong. Pretty much anything you would’ve been punished for back in high school is fair game now, as long as you call your parents in tears. They know that you’re helpless without them and they’re all too happy to hear your voice and help you out, proving to themselves that you still need them.
- You don’t need permission to have your friends, boyfriends, or girlfriends over. In high school, there’s a limit to the quantity of sleepovers you can have with your crew, because sometimes your mom is just “too tired!” and the house “looks like crap!” So you were forced to Skype and text to stave off the 12-hour-long bestie withdrawal. At college, every day is a sleepover if you want it to be! Then, when it comes to boyfriends and girlfriends, instead of being forced to keep the basement door open and having your dad come down periodically to check on you and make awkward conversation, you can actually hang out in peace!
- You won’t get a call home if you decide to skip class. No one has to know! As long as you don’t fail the class, or the class isn’t graded based on attendance, you’re in the clear. Sick, tired or just not feeling it? Skip!
- People are much more accepting and less judgmental. In high school, everyone was obsessed with knowing if you were a virgin so that they could classify you as a prude or a slut. In college, it’s less of a public issue. You do you! No one really cares. I’ve also found that people are less homophobic (I once overheard my guy friends talking about how they wouldn’t care at all if one of them was gay), and much more accepting of different religions.
- You can choose when your classes are, and don’t have to drive fifteen plus minutes to get to school (Unless you live on Newton Campus! ;) ). Early bird and you want to have all 8 and 9 a.m.s so you can be finished academics by lunch? You can do that! Hate the morning sun with a passion and want to sleep till noon before even thinking about classes? You can do that too, as opposed to the 8 a.m. – 3 p.m. high school day, which made us all want to scrape cheese graters against our foreheads.
- No Access Denied Websites. Remember when your school decided Facebook was just too distracting so they blocked it on the entire school Wi-Fi to make you more productive? All it truly bred was resentment and the desire to find a new website to waste our time with. Nothing like that at college!
- You get to choose which classes you take, and there’s a much broader variety. Yes, for most colleges you have a core curriculum that you have to satisfy, but you can test out, or at least have a large enough pool of choices of that subject you’ve been dreading that you can pick the one that looks the least revolting. Then when you get to the classes offered for your major, which you actually want to be learning about, it’s like heaven. There are more possibilities and fun classes than you could ever imagine. The opportunities afforded to you in high school are comparably limited.
- No gym class. Need I say more? We can all relate to that hour of hell every day in high school. In college, however, there are so many active people on campus that fitness actually seems fun! You can voluntarily take a variety of classes, like spin or Zumba!
- People are much more mature. Although once in a while you’ll find yourself caught in drama where you can’t believe people are still acting like they’re in fifth grade, for the most part by college we’ve all successfully accomplished puberty and found more mature ways to deal with our problems.
- No designated driver (for adults 21 and over, of course), because everything is within walking distance. No cars means no DD, meaning all of your friends can have a good time together! Walk from your dorm to an off campus house or to the senior mods and back. If you can’t find the energy to make it back to your dorm of origin, you can fall asleep in your friends’ dorms/houses/mods instead of having someone responsible for driving you home, and everyone’s happy. *Drink responsibly*
- You can learn to appreciate your family because you’re not with them all the time. Of course our families get on our nerves when we live with them every day, but when you’re apart you can truly grasp how much they mean to you.
- You are not confined to one friend group. In my high school, we had a grand total of 60 students per grade; we weren’t given much room to grow or explore in terms of friendships. In college, you’re free to have more than one friend group, and you’re always meeting new people! That way if things go poorly in one group, you aren’t left all alone until things settle down; you can go hang out with other friends.
- You can nap whenever you want, alone or with your roommates! Make a bouch (big couch) and take a snooze whenever you desire; it’s probably the best thing about your flexible schedule in college. There’s nothing better than snuggling up with your bestie on a Tuesday afternoon because you really just can’t do life at that moment.
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
StableDiffusion
The Illusion of Creativity
AI-generated music is often marketed as “artistic” or “educational.” But what does it really teach?
- That style can be replicated without understanding.
- That emotion can be simulated without feeling.
- That effort can be bypassed with a prompt.
For young creators, this sets a dangerous precedent. Why learn to play guitar when an algorithm can do it faster? Why study harmony when AI can generate chord progressions in seconds? The risk isn’t just laziness — it’s the loss of depth, discipline, and the tactile joy of creation.
I have listened to several AI-generated music covers. My initial reaction was one of considerable impressiveness, particularly regarding the reimagining of classic pop hits in diverse genres with novel arrangements. Here is one good example a-ha — Take On Me
However, after engaging with several such Ai generated song covers, a sense of emotional detachment emerged, attributable to the perceived absence of human artistry and genuine sentiment, resulting in a technically flawless yet ultimately soulless auditory experience.
Copyright in Crisis
What does the copyright law say about AI generated music, especially in field of music covers. Who is liable for copyright in this case, AI developers, people who used AI to generate music or people who published it on music platforms?
Recent lawsuits show that the music industry is pushing back hard:
- Universal, Sony, and Warner sued AI music platforms Suno and Udio in 2024 for allegedly training their models on copyrighted songs without permission Ars Technica The Lyon Firm.
- They’re seeking up to $150,000 per infringed song, arguing that the AI outputs resemble famous tracks and voices (e.g., Mariah Carey, Michael Jackson).
- These lawsuits target the developers of the AI tools — but they raise broader questions:The legal gray area is training data. Courts haven’t yet ruled definitively on whether using copyrighted songs to train AI counts as infringement or fair use Sites at USC.
But who’s liable?
Role | Legal Risk | Why |
AI Developers | ✅ High | For training on copyrighted material without licenses. |
Users | ⚠️ Moderate | If they intentionally recreate protected works. |
Publishers/Platforms | ✅ High | For distributing infringing content. |
The grey area lies in training data. Courts haven’t yet ruled definitively on whether using copyrighted songs to train AI counts as infringement or fair use. Meanwhile, AI-generated works themselves aren’t eligible for copyright unless a human provides substantial creative input — leaving them in legal limbo.
The Educational Mirage
Some argue that AI music helps people learn genres, production styles, or vocal techniques. But this “education” often lacks context. It’s like learning to paint by watching a printer — technically impressive, but creatively hollow.
True musical education involves:
- Struggle and iteration: Learning through mistakes.
- Emotional connection: Expressing what words can’t.
- Cultural lineage: Understanding the roots of sound.
AI shortcuts bypass all of this. And in doing so, they risk flattening the rich terrain of human creativity into a sterile landscape of algorithmic mimicry.
Why This Fight Matters
This isn’t just about music. It’s about the future of art, storytelling, and human expression. If we allow machines to dominate creative spaces, we risk turning culture into content — optimized, monetized, and devoid of soul.
We must ask: Do we want a world where art is made by machines, or one where machines help humans make better art?
5 Key Takeaways
- AI-generated music blurs the line between innovation and erosion in the creative arts
- AI-generated music raises questions about copyright, culture, education, and artistic expression
- AI-generated music can replicate style without understanding, simulate emotion without feeling, and bypass effort with a prompt
- AI-generated music sets a dangerous precedent for young creators by potentially leading to a loss of depth, discipline, and joy of creation
