the misconceptions of college

I have never felt that college was the scholastic gauntlet of higher education that we're told growing up. I'm sitting here, writing this as a 25 year old junior and having lived much more than almost everyone I come into contact with on campus. I'm not saying that these people aren't nice, nor am I saying they are dumb. I'm merely saying that college isn't even close to what we are made to think of when someone mentions the highly competitive, challenging, and cultural melting pot that is "college."

I recently started on a personal project after discovering the unintentional hilarity that is my roommates twitter postings. I decided to create an account where I put the cream of the crop in one place for the world to see. (Follow it @MyDoucheyRommie) Such classics as, "I love close." It baffles me how someone could survive 21 years on a planet that believes in natural selection without knowing the difference between "clothes" and "close." Of course, with the new world that we have created, the concept of natural selection, especially among humans, has been compromised. 

It wasn't until I started working on this project, as well as word getting out of my aspirations to be a writer, that I saw just how flawed the idea of college really was. I have proof read a number of papers for my classmates and all I can say on the subject is that a "C" is not average. A "C" is pretty damn bad, especially in regards to writing; the quintessential forms of communication that the entire world, as we perceive it today, is founded on. 

How can we blame anyone but ourselves. Hell, the simple exchange of "how are you?" "good." is a prime example of where our future is headed. When we have professors that have no business having any affect in the molding of young minds, blatantly oblivious cheating, and an unbelievable amount of extra credit all compiled into an educational setting, what do we expect to come from it?

Lets start with a brief history of myself. Out of high school I was a lost teenager with no respect for the opportunities I had available. Rather than going straight to college and wasting my time trying to really find myself, I did the exact opposite. I lived a few different places, tried my hand at many different things, and actually grew up. However, this whole time I took classes at different colleges around the country and picked up quite an array of scholastic experiences. 

Having decided, at 24 that it really was time to give this whole college thing the ol' college try,(sorry, I honestly couldn't resist) the notion of a four year institution couldn't have been further from the truth. My professors at this school, with very few exceptions, should not be allowed anywhere near a college campus. From the lack of passion to the ridiculous grading on tests that the professor themselves probably couldn't pass. A little hint moving forward, if the average grade on your test is a "D", you're doing something wrong. 

In a world where children's television programming cant even be fun anymore, but should teach the kids Spanish, we would think that our professors in college would care, at least slightly, about the way my generation acts when the reins of the world are handed over to us. Instead we have the First Lady putting the caloric values on fast food menus. This makes me laugh. Without an education to go along with the information,  those numbers mean nothing to the average American. 

The Giants have last those first 2 games that I didnt watch, yet they won the game I did watch. My brother, a die hard fan tells me I must watch all of the remaining games. Apparently I am that one fan in my brothers eyes. The one game I watched was enjoyable. A nice escape from studying, well not as good as a hockey game, but still. I guess we'll see how it turns out.

With the Giants in the playoffs, The San Francisco Giants that is, I think I will watch as many of the games as  I can. I watched 2 years ago when they won the world series. That was quite enjoyable and something for my brother and I to do together. I will probably miss the first couple games, but thats fine. I dont think I'm the one fan that matters when it comes to the welfare of the team. they did make the playoffs without my viewership.

Its been much more difficult to play hockey in the midwest than it was for me in California. Yes, I did live right next to the ice rink in town and the ice rinks are all very spread out here. I would love to find a place to play outdoors. A place where there is no one to charge money for it and we could play all day. Those are always dreams for any hockey player I suppose

With the future of the 2012-13 NHL season looming in the balance, I guess its time for me to start to appreciate other sports? I used to enjoy baseball as a kid. I think the only reason I despise it now is because of annoying baseball fans trying to watch the first of 162 games while I'm trying to watch the NHL playoffs. Sports bars, at least sports bars in California, seem to always give way to baseball fans despite the importance of the other matches that are on, or the number of fans in the pub. If I ever own a sports pub I will make sure that the playoffs of any sport take precedence over a seemingly unimportant match from a different sport.

Today was an interesting day. I have been able to reconnect with a friend from when I lived in Chicago before. He was a roommate of mine back then and we did not get along while living together. Our personalities clashed quite a bit. However, I remembered us be the best of friends before we moved in together. I wanted to give the friendship a shot, despite the fact that I was incredibly nervous. The nights being a lot warmer here than back home, I was definitely not dressed for the amount of walking we would be doing. It was sweaty and miserable, at least until I had a beer in my hand.

I've heard on several occasions that beer brings people closer, and in this regard it was correct. We picked up where we left off. That is left off before we were roommates. I was excited to have a very close friend back. A friend, for that matter, who wasn't affiliated with my school. This way I can escape the small community that is Loyola. Hopefully as we hang out in the future, things continue to go in the right direction.

Gotta love problems with roommates. Back to the last post that I wrote about and the idea of being aware of your affect on the lives of other people. I decided to go to bed early on a Friday night. I know, some may say that I am not living the college life to the fullest, but I'm quite a bit older than the people here. I tell my roommate and say good night. He comes into the room a few hours later with someone and starts talking to them extremely loudly. I know he wasn't drunk. He seems to think he is cool because he makes it a point to only drink once every 3 weeks. Friends of mine always say they have no idea how i can hate people.