You really don't know how much is expected of you as a college student until you become one. In high school you're told just to get good grades and that will get you into college and maybe add in some extracurricular activities and volunteer work. You get to college and assume, "Well I just have to get good grades, then I'll get a job." Unfortunately it is so much more than that. I didn't realize the best years of our lives were going to be so stressful.
In order to get a job, you have to graduate with exceptional grades to get into graduate school or be competitive enough in a job interview. Then they want you to have 100 or more shadowing hours in your field, an internship or two under your belt, leadership qualities from extracurricular activities, enough connections and relationships with professionals to have multiple letters of recommendation, pass all of the exams that are required for your field of study, and don't forget to save your money to pay for years of graduate school that cost tens of thousands of dollars a year. But before we even get to graduate school you have to survive your undergraduate. You are forced to juggle classes, studying for those classes, shadowing/volunteer hours, and internships — which are probably unpaid so add a job to your list of things to do. We also have to stay in shape, because those college buffet dining halls aren't helping, and remember to sleep at least seven hours a day. You'll drive yourself insane if you don't take some time for yourself, so squeeze in some time to socialize or do something fun. According to my calculations, college students need roughly 32 hours in a day. How impossible! Isn't it enough that we are willing to better ourselves through education so we can get a job and pay our dues to society? I guess not.
If you're trying to pay your way as you go, like myself, then forget it, you better try to find a job that pays you to breathe. I attend a state school so the tuition isn't crazy like a private institution charges, but I'm working 55-hour weeks during my 15-week summer, and every last dime I make still won't cover the charges from just the first semester. After budgeting my summer I became so stressed out and mad that I wouldn't make enough that I decided to calculate how much an average college student would have to work to pay their bills as they go. If you worked a minimum wage job ($9.00 an hour), a college student would have to work at least 40 hours a week during the entire year to make enough to pay their bills and have some money for groceries and the occasional haircut. Now 40 hours is your average work week for an adult, but not a student who spends a minimum of 12 hours a week in classes and is supposed to be studying for at least seven hours a week. I was furious when I figured out this math. Could it be? This is what getting an education has come down to? I keep reading articles about other countries offering free college to residents and international students. Peace out America, I'm going to get myself a free education.
