Is it better to stay in one's home town around real Americans in the real world than a university?
A lot of people come on this board and talk about how college is not the real world, how regular folk tend to stick to where real people, real Americans can be found, basically the towns in which they grew up, but here's my question, Who has more exposure to the real world, the former high school football hero who stays in his small town, marries the girl next door, socializes with the same crew he knew from high school, spends most of his time around those who are of the same race and religion as him and share his viewpoints or a guy who goes to a university makes friends with people from Japan, Nigeria, Mexico, China and India, meets straights, gays and lesbians; meets scholarship kids from poor families, kids from rich families who grew up in privilege, meets Young Republicans and Young Democrats, meets Protestants, Jews, Hindus, Muslims, Catholics and Buddhists, meets people who study engineering, others who study French literature, others who study nursing and some who study economics. Who's having a more real-world experience? Um, I am back in graduate school taking a hiatus from the real world as my current financial situation allows me to do so and it is my right. I have lived in Ireland, France, Australia, South Korea and the United States, speak three languages and have spent a lot of time in the supposed "real world" of low-paying office jobs and other endeavors. I just find it astonishing how much rancor is displayed towards educational environments by so many posters here. Not all colleges are elitist. I am in a graduate program at a state university in an urban environment and many of my colleagues are married, have children are struggling to get by and achieve an education, plus many of them are older people taking some time off to further their education after having spent time in a more conventional career path. I found the office environment to be one where I was mostly around people of the same race, religious background, social background, etc.
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1 :
I don't hear that. I hear the profs do not live in the real world. Not going out into the world as a young person does not help your personal growth. Just take your non technical lessons from your prof with the understanding that they are biased.
2 :
No both are "real" it is a CHOICE based on ones views and wants. My skill set and trade have allowed me to reside from the Chicago suburbs to central California and be sucessfull and compete in those areas. I CHOOSE western Michigan why? Because for me owning land and having privacy and a greater sense of freedom and independence is important. I would not be HAPPY living in a condo in the city surrounded by millions of humans because for the most part humans SUCK we are a very diverse and mean group of critters as evidenced by our history. Simple fact is smart folks live in all places so do dumb ones.
3 :
For somebody spouting out about education, you are easily caught in the facile lie that "a lot of people" actually say that. Yes, the fact is that college is not the real world - it is a world sheltered and secluded from the real world. Having been to college, I found that to be all too true. It is because people at university generally are not married, do not have families and are living off the fruits of their parents. They generally are not responsible for keeping a roof over the heads of their family, nor having to provide food and health care to their family, etc. These are important and necessary real world things that college students almost never have to worry about. Things that are vastly more "real world" than simply meeting people from different cultures and engaging in pseudo-intellectual sophistry with them. Perhaps college was a big experience for you, but it wasn't for me. I guess that since I'd already lived overseas for a number of years, and had met people from all over the US and from many other countries, that it wasn't that big a deal to meet them at university. Plus, I found that the real knowledge I gained about the world around me happened outside of college, where I pursued that knowledge on my own, seeking greater understanding of the world around me. I learned much more than any college prof could teach, and much of that was not just from books, but from older people who had experienced the world and who related their wisdom to me, which is something that one does not find in college. You have the brash arrogance of a college student who believes himself smarter and more knowledgeable than others, but without having had the humbling real life experience of finding out that you're not. You just might find out that the old guy who never went to college or traveled extensively has a better handle on the real world and on worldly wisdom than a stadium full of college students.
4 :
You know what? I agree with you. You're not showing arrogance, but the exact opposite of it. Those still under the protection of their well-known environments are the arrogant ones who think they know the world outside, but in truth is blissfully blind to all else other than his immediate surroundings. I always joked the human race will truly be united when aliens attack us, which actually true - we divide ourselves by distinction of culture and history, by colour of skin, race, beliefs and ideals. But for a truly harmoniously world one has to be tolerant to diverse societies, and to tolerate them one first needs to know about them, which makes the lot who has never left their home-towns pretty much blind to the world. it's human nature for one human to like another with the same beliefs, but it's another matter when one human despises another for holding different beliefs. The world is becoming increasingly multi-cultural, and those who attempt to ignore it will in the end fail.
5 :
<<Is it better to stay in one's home town around real Americans in the real world than a university?>> I think that all depends on the individual college student. <<A lot of <snip> real-world experience?>> Both. You don't have to look hard to find people like that on one's college campus or even one's home town. <<Um, I am <snip> social background, etc.>> And?
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