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Thursday, March 16, 2006
College Student Speaks: “Not Just Drinking the Night Away.”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Gwinnett student Jerry Oberholtzer, who is a junior at Clemson, dropped a line in response to an earlier post to say - basically - hey, college students work hard! (The earlier post was about professors responding to e-mails in the middle of the night and what I characterized as other ways colleges cater to today’s 24-hour student.)
Here’s an excerpt:
“I am a junior here at Clemson University, and I am BUSY! Long gone are my freshman days of going to class then playing Playstation all afternoon! I now have a job, an apartment, food, and gas I have to pay for. On top of that I’m in a Service Organization and I like to catch a sporting event in there too.
So when a professor offers to be available in the wee hours of the morning for a question, I jump at the chance. I’ll walk you through a typical day in my life here in Clemson.
I get up about 8am or earlier depending on what I have going on that day. I scheduled my earliest class for 10am (and you’ll see why in a minute). But getting up at 8 gives me time to maybe finish some homework, refine a paper or hit up the bank before class. I’m done with classes between 1:45 and 3:45 depending on the day. On days I work (I’m a waiter) I have to report at 4pm. So that is not much time between class and work. Work lasts sometimes till 2am, but I never get off earlier than 11. After that if I have something due the next day I have to stay up and work on it. So when I need a question answered, and the prof is awake at the computer, I don’t have to go through the night guessing what to write.
I’m glad I have professors who understand that the average college student is really busy nowadays. Busy with life and not just drinking the night away.
So what leads me to write you was the fact that I was having this exact conversation a few days earlier with a class of mine. We all came to the conclusion that with the rising tuition and competitive job market in the “real world”, that we as college students are asked to do more than our parents were in the late 70’s early 80’s.
Our success in school depends on these professors who understand us, and schools like Clemson are doing a great job of meeting those needs.”
I got the impression reading Jerry’s e-mail that he and others like him do not like being characterized as lazy or more interested in partying. Surely some college students are - and they tend to get the ink - but others like Jerry are going to class, studying, working and preparing for the job market.
Any other students out there tired of the “drinking the night away” stereotype?
