Constantly Cynical

With students like Dee expressing their attitudes (read entry: "7/10"), you wonder if the student population here at the community college is different from the undergraduates at the University, which is literally just down the road from here.

I busted my ass in high school, especially my senior year, to get into the University as a freshman with the expressed intent of going to vet school and possibly getting my Ph.D. You are surrounded by other students who had similar experiences, and it's not unusual anymore for young adults to have better than a 4.0 gpa (which is a fairly recent development--at least in my eyes as someone who's in her thirties). These high schoolers are taking AP classes with the idea that they will attend a four-year college.

Which brings up an interesting question for me, are the eighteen-year-olds here on a community college campus, did they take advantage of AP classes in preparation for college or did they more-or-less choose a less aggressive path in school? What are their motivations for being in college to begin with?

Some students here at the community college are here for mainly financial reasons; it's still cheaper to get your G.E.'s at this college than at a four-year university. Some students are serious, but are older in life, have other responsibilities that keep them from being full time at that level--at least for now. Again, I'm beating a dead horse here, but maybe some of the students have disabilities that affected their performance in high school, and therefore, they didn't have the grades to get into the University--but not from a lack of trying.

It's also difficult not to become cynical constantly running (either as a fellow classmate or a professor/instructor) into students who have no love or respect for their education--the sector of undergraduates who just want to finish their classes and move on in life to a job. Because having a job is extra fun.

Whenever the English instructor says to the class that he hopes "everyone is enjoying the book" (referring, of course, to The Bean Trees), I immediately wonder just how many students are actually enjoying the book. When I was a freshman at the University my second quarter in 2001, I was not only taking a full class load, but still had time to write in my journal and read books on my own volition--because I loved literature (which should have been a big hint that I needed to change majors).

In beginner classes like Engl 201A and Engl 201B, how many students are potential English majors? Probably not that many. You can be a science major, and still love reading fictional books--you can still love learning at any stage.