Why I Like College

When I was younger going through grammar school, junior high, and high school, school was not an entirely unpleasant experience. Still, as a general rule, school was a place that I would prefer to avoid. At times, it was the closest that I have ever felt to being in prison. I still remember gazing outside the fence as the cars drove by, a constant reminder that the normal world still existed. I also remember how exciting it was when some element of the outside world would burst into the school environment. In grammar school, for instance, there were few things as exciting as a dog running onto campus. You would think that the children had never seen this kind of creature before. Equally exciting were those rare occasions when a student might get a television in a classroom to pick up cartoons or any other kid-oriented show. Suddenly, some joyous aspect of the world outside had invaded the alternate universe of school. And if you ever ran into a teacher outside of the school environment, the experience could be equally disconcerting. Suddenly, the two worlds in which you lived your life had crossed paths, and you fully realized, at least for a moment, that teachers had lives outside of the classroom.

When I taught junior high and high school, I often had the same feeling of being trapped. Classes proceeded one after another, with only short breaks for lunch and a prep period. Each day of the workweek proceeded in the same repetitive, frequently exhausting manner. For about seven hours a day, I, like my students, was stuck in the world of school.

College, however, was an entirely different experience for me. Academically, of course, it was much more difficult. The feel, routine, and flow of college life, however, bore little resemblance to what I had always associated with school. Classes no longer proceeded one after another, and the schedule each day varied.