The purpose-driven college life.

Wow, two posts in one week! Actually I have to admit that it's due to the fact that I'm currently suffering from a cold/sore throat. (NOT the Swine Flu!) So here I sit, with no homework (That I'm willing to work on that is) and I still have a little while before I will permit myself to heat up some mac 'n cheese and curl up with a movie in this particularly cozy chair I've recently acquired.

I've been thinking lately about the different attitudes some people have towards school, college specifically. Some are in it because they have nothing else to do with their life, so college is just a way to put off becoming an "adult". Other people go to college I think because they're expected to by everyone. They also have no real goal to achieve while they're there but to pass their classes adequately. Then there are those people who go to college to have fun. New people, new experiences, exciting adventures. Other people just go to college because they have a career in mind, and they can't get into that field unless they have a college degree. And then there are the people who go to college because they truly enjoy learning. Really any of the above can be combined and those are pretty much all of the reasons people go to college. Most don't fall into that last category that I've discovered.

So why does this matter? And why am I wasting my time categorizing people? Well I think that by figuring out why one is in college, it says a lot about what they do while they're there. The people with no purpose or goal, they don't really care what they achieve while they're in college. Any grade will do as long as one isn't failing. Then those other people who are aiming specifically for a degree, well, of course they want to do well, but are they enjoying themselves while they're working so hard? They'd just as soon be done with college and be out in the workplace. And then there are the nerds like me. I absolutely love college. I love learning. I love succeeding. I demand a 4.0 from myself, not simply to keep a scholarship or for a nice transcript (though those are important reasons) but because I know what I am capable of, and I see failure as doing anything less than my potential. I've mentioned this to some people before, but if I had enough money I would just stay in school forever, and I would have a room wallpapered with degrees.

I guess my point is that I'm starting to understand more why people go about getting a college education in different ways. I used to always wonder why people weren't more upset over that grade that they got on the test. But I think I see why now. And I also know that college will always be a joy for me as long as I have decent professors and a mind that can produce A's.