I just did an all-nighter for a computer science project and watching the culture of normalizing this excessive burden of studying for your classes and leaving mental health behind has made me wonder, was college this bad in my parents' day?
I asked them and they said no. Moreover, they said that it was a breeze and nothing like what they have heard from me.
So the reality is that our parents did have it better in their time, in terms of college life at least.
Here are 3 things that make college the sad reality it is today:
1. The pressure
There seem to be much more choices and it puts increased pressure on us to make the right choices. We have so many things we need to do because of how accessible the world has become. We can do anything so why aren't we doing everything?
2. The money
College tuition has more than doubled since the time of our parents. From the late 1980s to the 2017-18 school year, the cost of an undergraduate degree rose by 213% at public schools, adjusting for inflation. A single textbook can cost up to $300, and the average college student is expected to spend more than $1,200 on textbooks annually and dorming is horribly expensive.
3. The stress
From 2005 to 2015, the proportion of freshmen said they "occasionally or frequently feel overwhelmed" increased by 10%, according to the Huffington Post. This is because of the constant pressure to strive for the next thing, even when you have achieved what you set out to do which I just have to say, is the definition of millennial burnout.
Perhaps this could also be why students nowadays are balancing more in addition to their school work. According to a study by the Center for Education and the Workforce at Georgetown University, 70% to 80% of students have a job while attending school — 40% of them work more than 30 hours a week, exceeding the 15 hours a week cap they should maintain without hurting their academics.
Now I wish I was alive at that time.
