Do you ever miss college

[Juche]

I graduated 2 years ago. There are several things I do not miss. I do not miss being evaluated, judged and tested every single week. I do not miss the hypercompetitiveness (the field I was studying was about 70% pre med/vet/pharmacy/PhD so everyone was competing to get an A. Personally I just wanted to graduate and get a job). I don't miss the stress levels (my stress levels are almost 0 now that I have a job). I don't miss going into debt.

But man, I miss the people and the schedules. I was a science major so I was constantly surrounded by highly intelligent, eccentric, unique people who were constantly in flux. I miss the ability to make a dozen new friends a year. I miss having months of free time in summer to do things.

Just wanted to vent.

[Lavender Brown]

1. I used to (graduated 8 years ago)

I'm more settled into the work routine now. But I understand missing certain aspects of it, having more free time during the day, the summers, etc. I'm lucky in that I work with really smart people, so that aspect of the college environment I don't miss as much.

[bigwillq]

2. Yes.

Those were indeed some very good times. Not only for the fun parts, but I really do miss learning. Yes, I know I learn on my own everyday, but it was very cool being in a classroom with other students and discussing topics. I took a lot of classes where we sat in a circle and discussed a paper we had just written, or discussed a relevant topic. I like the interaction of learning.

[rainbow4321]

3. The first 2 yrs of it, sometimes....no bills, no real responsibilities..

except class/studying during the week and partying on the weekend.

The last three years (I transferred to another school so I had to tack on a year) was being married, being pregnant, working part time, finding time to study and take care of the baby---who really got the short end of the stick in the deal (being dragged out of bed and to a sitter at 6 am each day). Being that I was in nursing school the last 2 semesters were the worst because you are free labor for 24 hrs a week during clinicals in addition to class time/studying.
All well worth it now as I am a single mom of 2 kids and have/can $upport us since I chugged along and got that nursing degree!

That "baby" is a college student now herself (!!!) and is graduating next month.

[Midlodemocrat]

4. No.

I used to dream that I didn't actually graduate because I slept through an exam, though.

Those days are over, thankfully. Now I've got a child in college and one on the way to college.

[Nikia]

5. All the time

It was the culture that I felt most comfortable in. My current job, including every one that I've had since graduating almost 9 years ago has been boring compared to college and seems like a waste of my talents. I would like to go to graduate schhol. What is stopping me is insecurity about my ability to do well at it since I have been away from academic work for a while and that I don't have the financial resources to go to school and not have a full time income. I have an infant and feel that it would be wrong to try to do both even if I somehow had the energy.

[mnhtnbb]

6. I look back on college days (UCLA '69-'73, BS; '73-'75, MPH) as some of

the best of my life.

No responsibility for anyone else other than myself. Worked part-time, liked classes, balanced
social life. I worked full-time in the summer, starting the year after I graduated high school,
(so I didn't have lazy or boring summers), in a local hospital, which helped get me accepted
to graduate school in hospital administration.

My youngest is now a freshman at UNC-Chapel Hill. I think, after hearing for so many years from his parents
about how great college days were, he's beginning to understand.

It was a good time--even though it was during the Vietnam War.

[Inchworm]

7. You have no idea

hehe.

:hi:

[abq e streeter]

8. I missed most of it while I was there...

till I went back in my early 30's, ready to actually study, go to class etc ...but I know what you mean about the joy and incredible stimulation of being among "highly intelligent, eccentric, unique people"...In retrospect, I'm blown away by the level of intelligence I was in contact with on a daily basis ( among my buddies were a future winner of a Pulitzer Prize for international reporting, Clinton's chief of staff, etc)as well as combined brilliance and eccentricity : a math genius who completed every math course they had in 2 and 1/2 yrs,so they kept coming up with more and more complex independent study projects for him. He'd do nothing but stay stoned the whole semester, and a a few days before it was due, he'd grab a fistful of LSD and disappear for a few days, then re-emerge with a stack of papers with scribbling everywhere and announce that he'd "figured it out", and inevitably have his professors write on the finished product "brilliant research; we're submitting it for publication" etc. I'm a musician now, so am still among creative , often highly intelligent ( in their own way) people, but nothing like those original college days, and 40 years later, I guess I still miss them in a way.

[Arugula Latte]

9. Yep. Those were the days.

Hanging in cafes. Reading for hours. Being surrounded by thousands of people my own age. Footloose and fancy free in Berkeley and San Francisco. Having every amenity at my doorstep -- movies, museums, sports facilities, pools, tennis courts, bookstores, restaurants, parks (Tilden -- heavenly view of S.F. Bay -- *sigh*). Driving with friends to Tahoe or Napa Valley or the beach. That was the life.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

10. Not really. Only

every single day of my life.

And some of my closest friends today are people I met in college. We all did all right in life, but we all yearn for those days. Oh, man, do we ever........................

[CrownPrinceBandar]

11. Maybe not college per se...........

but that time in my life definitely. The future stretched out before me and all things seemed possible. I had more and varied adventures that it makes my heart sick sometimes to think that I'll probably never get that exhilaration again.

[rockymountaindem]

12. I'm only in grad school, and I really miss college

Mostly I miss being close to all my friends and seeing the same people all the time. Now they're all far away, and I eat too many meals alone :(

[dysfunctional press]

13. nope. retirement is better.

especially when you do it before you turn 40.

[nickinSTL]

14. a lot of it. don't miss where I was in my life...

but the people, the relative freedom, and even the classes, yes.

[MrScorpio]

15. I never try to shoot it

Yeah I know, you don't miss if you don't try

[Lucian]

16. I'm going back in the fall.

I can't wait to get back in "the college life". :)

[sniffa]

17. Yes. College was awesome.

Now I'm back at college taking night classes and it sucks. It's breaking my back.

[I Have A Dream]

18. Not at all. Not even once. nt

[Left Is Write]

19. No.

[NJCher]

20. yes, I missed it ...

So much so that I dropped my marketing career and went into teaching at the state university.

I love my students, my schedule, the creativity of the job, and working at a campus. I'm happy just about all the time and I attribute a good part of that to satisfaction with my career.

I work with intelligent, interesting people--people who aren't just about "profit." I like it that the people I work with care about their students and their profession.

Unfortunately I am always short of money since my income is now about 25 per cent of what I made as an advertising director. I still live in the house I bought when I made a bigger income, so it is a challenge to keep up with the expenses. If I could change one thing, it would be to have a better income for what I do.


Cher