The main themes surrounding college life is freedom and flexibility to pursue personal interests. Unlike high school, the administration in college has less direct control over college students as they are regarded as mature and are supposed to take responsibility for their success or failure. Students have less contact with their tutors as the class sizes are larger than in high school, and the expectations of the students by the tutors are different. Students are responsible for aspects of their own personal lives such as on accommodation and meals. The administration is rarely involved in determining the students’ special interests and instead, it is the responsibility of students to advocate for what they want or prefer to be done by the administration.
In college, there is a thin line between academics and social life. Students in colleges are more likely to be drawn from diverse backgrounds, and every aspect of activities performed offers a chance to meet new people and interact. New friendships can be formed in dormitories, library and clubs among other places. The academic performance is greatly influenced by the social interactions taking place as it determines the flow of ideas and the necessary collaborations that are required on academics.
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"College Life: Freedom and Flexibility".
The schedule at college is very flexible allowing the students to explore their interests and passions on a daily basis. Unlike in high school where a student has to attend a certain class at a particular time for the whole week, students in college have the option of making choices on when to attend classes based on the personal preferences. For example, a particular class could be offered several times a week and at different times of the day and the student is only supposed to attend once or twice. This arrangement allows individual students to manage their own schedules in a way that they can accommodate personal interests and also have time to explore new things. For instance, a student who likes watching movies at night would choose to skip the early morning classes and attend those starting in the afternoon.
Opportunities to explore personal interests also come in the freedom offered in picking the subjects of interests for specialization. In high school, all the students are subjected to a fixed curriculum in which most of the subjects are mandatory regardless of the students’ personal interests. This arrangement changes in college as students have to make their own decisions about what they would like to study and thus they can pursue their interests through specialization. During the first years in college, one has the freedom to explore many areas of specialization by attending general classes and then make a decision on the major subjects of specialization during the later years.
The students have more options to get involved in extracurricular activities, joining various organizations and clubs and even having a part time job. Just like in high school, colleges have many extracurricular activities but the students have more opportunities in that they are directly involved in managing themselves unlike in high school where the administration is highly involved. Students with particular interests can easily join to form a club or an organization and operate it according to their preferences. In addition, the flexible schedule allows students to look for part time jobs through which they can start earning while at school. Most of the students have certain basic skills when in college and this allows them to seek employment or get involved in volunteer programs where they can pursue personal interests. In an ordinary week, a student can be involved in club meetings, sports and work on part time while still attending classes at the preferred time.
There is a lot of difference between the life of a student in the first college years and the life in the last years when the student is about to complete the studies. Early years offer more freedom to engage in social life and explore many things, but a majority of students are not able to take the chances due to anxiety and lack of exposure. The students in the first years of college are not able to fully socialize with people as they tend to hang out with individuals from similar socioeconomic backgrounds and within their classroom. This scenario changes in the later years when students start to interact with people from diverse backgrounds and get more involved in social activities; however, the freedom is usually limited due to increasing demand to concentrate on academics. Most students feel that they do not take the opportunities provided by the first college years to socialize with people.
In most cases, each student has his or her own experiences in college depending on how they are able to interact with other people and the subjects they choose as majors. The flexible schedule means that students have different chances of meeting certain people and interacting with them, and thus the flow of ideas varies depending on individual students. Those with special talents such as in sports have more chances of interacting with many people and forming close social ties where they experience life in a different way. The subjects taken also determine the people that one is likely to meet and socialize with in college life.
In conclusion, college life is unique due to the freedom, flexibility and thin line between academics and socialization. The students are more involved in managing themselves and pursuing their own interests. However, most people are likely to have different life experiences at college depending on their majors, their preferred schedules and the kind of interactions that they make with other people. Those who are open to socialization during the first years of college are likely to have more experiences in extracurricular activities and also improve the chances of their academic success in their last years when they are supposed to concentrate more on academics.
