After several years of high school, which involved navigating the awkwardness of adolescence, self-identity and acquiring education, comes college, for those who choose to or are able to attend it. College is, for some, The Promised Land, where dreams are said to begin to come true. For others, it is simply a place to fulfill family tradition or expectations. Regardless of why a person is in college, there exists distinct ways in which this wonderland conflicts with the "real world."

Responsibility

Unlike real life, college life comes with a few perks, which include less expectation of responsibility. This lenient stance on policy may be expressed both within the hallowed walls of institutions of higher learning, for instance, through tolerance of unprofessional behavior. Lateness, violation of college regulations and even academic expectations are often felt to be dependent on individual feelings. However, in real life, failing to comply with laws and meeting ones duties comes come at a higher cost than a mere change in grade.

Pace

Due to the energy, passion and new perspectives that dominate colleges and universities, college life is usually ahead of real life in a number of issues. Unsurprisingly, there is then a lag time between the two. For instance, in many places around the world, colleges have been the frontier for societal change. Most times, independence struggles and civil rights movements sprout in college life and then influence real life. As such, real life is often unprepared for the ideas emerging from college life. Likewise, college life may be impatient with the slow progress of real life when it comes to the freshly brewed ideas.

Tangibility

Most of academia essentially rests on proof, intense studies, evidence and specificity of answers. While this is helpful in learning and true to the formal educational model, it conflicts with the nuances of immeasurable elements dominant in real life. Emotions, doubt and ambivalence greatly affect experiences in real life that no research can measure or discover. Therefore, college life is likely to have a blind spot for aspects of real life that greatly define real life.

Despite the distinctions between college life and real life in expectations of responsibility, pace of developing new ideas and practicalities of tangible elements, the two may complement each other. Where college life fails to instill responsibility real life would impart. When real life is moving too slowly, college life would speed progress up, and what college life fails to grasp in its studies, real life will continue to expose.