"You could be doing more," "I don't think you're taking enough classes," "You don't know how easy you guys have it." If you have parents like mine, you've heard these statements a couple times, and they immediately incite anger. Adults nowadays think it's so much easier to be a student now than it used to be back when they were in school. I'm a millennial, here to tell you what it's really like to be a student in the 21st century.
Most of the time, you are a year-round student. Sure, you have fall and spring semesters just like everyone else. But wait, your school has all of these random requirements that don't really add to your degree, they just require you to take them? Guess you better take a summer class or two to stay on track. If you really want to get ahead, you should try cramming your brain and your schedule by taking a 4-week winter course when you're supposed to be de-stressing from the previous semester. Breaks? What breaks? There are no longer breaks, just opportunities to take more classes and not fall behind.
God help you if you want to work. My dad said that when he went to community college, he had to take out a loan of $5,000. Now I understand completely that that is still a decent amount of money, especially when you went to college in the late 70's, early 80's. But once you get your first job, paying that loan back is no problem. Hell, you could probably be paying that loan back while working and going to school. I attended community college for two years, and my parents and I patted ourselves on the back for how much money I would be saving... Wrong. I went to an in-state school, where tuition is cheaper, and I'm still requesting nearly $20,000 a year because the fees and cost of living is killer. Now at the current restaurant job that I have, I make a little over $5,000 a year... I can't work my way through school. Plus, a job is just another distraction, an added stress, and it takes away from time you could be spending doing homework.
And there's a lot of homework. If you are taking a three-credit course, it is expected you spend six to nine hours studying outside of the classroom. Now multiply that times five, since that's the expected number of classes you're supposed to take. So you're in class around six to nine hours per day, plus another 30 to 45 hours a week outside of the classroom should be spent doing schoolwork. That doesn't leave a whole lot of time to work, not to mention stay active and be healthy.
One thing that is easier for us millennials is the use of resources. My mom has told me horror stories of trying to find exactly the right book in the library. Sometimes the book was checked out, but when she was lucky enough to find it, she would then have to spend hours pouring over it to just to find what she was looking for.
However, the downfall for millennials in the use of technology is our sudden availability at all times. When our parents went to school, if a teacher didn't assign something in class, students could not be reached outside of the classroom. Once you were done with the assignments, that's it, you were done until the next time the class met. Not anymore! Students can be emailed and texted, and we are expected to check our emails every day for important information from professors. Half the time, my emails are my professors saying "I didn't have time to go over this in class, so please watch this 20 minute video explaining more stuff that you'll be quizzed on," or "here's a pop quiz on this week's reading, you have until midnight to complete it," or "here's a link to a discussion thread, make sure you post an item and comment on two others' because it will be another 10 points to the class." If you're a millennial student who thinks the learning and assigning stops when you leave the classroom, you are doomed.
Millennials also don't have the promise of a nice job right out of college. We are all fighting for entry-level positions that somehow require several years' experience, just to scrape together less than $45,000 a year. In my area, you can't move out of your house on $45k a year. And for those who graduate and don't immediately have a job, good luck and tough shit because those $600 student loan bills are coming in six months, regardless of whether or not you have a job. Even those majoring in engineering aren't promised high-paying jobs. Why? Because everyone is majoring in engineering so they can try to make big bucks. We are also the first generation in US history that won't do as well as their parents. We are starting our lives off worse than what you provided for us.
So please, parents, give us a break. School is tough. College has changed since you attended. We aren't all trying to waste your money and screw around. We're just trying to make it in the real world, like you want us to.
