Hey, let me stop you there and ask you a few important questions first:
Have you ever written a 15-page research paper based on published journal articles (at 10 pages+ each) from Academic Search Premier?
Have you ever accepted a non-paying internship because an organization believed that students don't have enough expertise to actually be paid for the work they put in?
Have you ever personally felt the financial burden of tacking on more and more student loans to your college debt every year?
Have you ever lived in an on-campus dorm for an entire school year, away from your family, pets, and hometown except for the occasional holiday break?
Have you spent countless hours applying for dozens of scholarships only to learn that you didn't receive any of them?
Have you ever felt judged or defined by your grades?
Have you ever felt constant pressure to join on-campus clubs and organizations and get involved with other students at your university?
Have you ever spent an entire semester living with a messy, mean, annoying, or inconsiderate roommate in a tiny dorm room?
Have you ever stayed up until 3 am writing a 5-page paper of any kind?
Have you ever left your dorm room or apartment at 8 am, realizing that you wouldn't be coming back until after 6 pm that night because you have a full day of classes and meetings ahead of you?
Have you ever felt the stress of planning which specific classes you would take during the next 4 years just to be sure you could graduate on time?
Have you ever eaten nothing but dining hall food 3 times a day for an entire school year?
Have you ever felt the stress of deciding where you would live each year and what roommates you would live with?
Have you ever felt intense pressure to find a summer job or internship just so you could build a professional portfolio in preparation for graduation?
Have you spent $300 on used academic textbooks and online textbook access codes at any point in your life?
Have you ever been rudely told that the extremely difficult life event you experienced (such as losing a job, getting a divorce, losing a loved one, or suffering from a personal injury) really wasn't all that hard?
Have you ever come home from a stressful and exhausting week of college classes, semester projects, and homework assignments only to hear someone else say "oh, just wait until you get a real job and have to come home and make dinner every night without your mom doing it for you?"
Have you ever attended college of any kind?
Did you even graduate from high school?
Do you seriously have no respect for the thousands of college students who are slaving away with exams, research papers, campus activities, low-paying part-time jobs, honors seminars, and meetings every single day just so they can eventually graduate? Just so they can eventually contribute something good to the world?
Do you not remember how challenging it was to explore life for the first time as a 21-year-old?
Are you really that ignorant that you would downplay someone else's major life journey simply because you personally never experienced how difficult college can be?
I hope you answered "NO" to my questions. If you didn't, I suppose that proves how ignorant you are. The next time you open your mouth to criticize a college student or tell that student that their weekly responsibilities are nothing compared to the "real world," please realize that your comments only make you look inconsiderate and judgmental.
Please realize that your 40-hour workweek (or lack thereof) is in no way comparable to the demanding schedule of a full-time college student living on campus. When you come home at night, do you have homework to complete? Tests to study for? Study groups to meet up with? Probably not.
But when a college student comes home to their borrowed housing unit, they do have all of those things to worry about. Plus, they have to cook dinner for themselves. And wash all of their own laundry. And clean their own living spaces. And worry about the high student loans they are racking up simply by persevering and earning their college degree.
Life is challenging for everyone. You truly have no idea what college is like unless you have personally put four years of your life into a college degree.
