Prince

I went "back to school" and am on my second semester of college. I enjoy the learning, all the knowledge and information I am absorbing. I love writing papers and all that. It's very stimulating, intellectually.

But the students annoy the fuck out of me. Sometimes I want to yell and ask if it's too much trouble to turn the cell phone off for 50 fucking minutes so that I can concentrate on the lecture. I don't understand this cell phone shit. What is so important to text at 8:30am? And then there's the laptop people. When I first started college I saw a lot of people with them, and I figured that's a great way to take notes and work on papers between lectures. But 9 out of 10 of these chicks, with the shirts that are too small and pants that hang below their hips leaving half of their ass showing, I see them using their notebooks just for MySpace, Facebook and similar teen sites. Then there's that guy who comes to the Biology lecture at 8 am and pulls his hood over his head and goes to sleep, then wakes up after the lecture and asks me if he missed anything. Every. Single. Time. Or the guy who always shows up late for English and never has a pen or a pencil.

I don't understand why they bother to show up. All this knowledge and education at their fingertips, and they choose to piss it away.

And feeling this way makes me feel old. We didn't have cell phones when I was their age, and showing skin actually wasn't considered "cool." Only geeks like me had an email address, and we had to Telnet in to check it. But I'm sure we were equally uninterested, equally intellectually afloat.

I'm gonna be 31 this spring and these college kids, or rather how they make me feel, are making me feel awfully old, and I hate that. I've always considered myself very flexible in terms of what I consider cool, and what I consider appropriate. I mean, if I see some couple screwing in a tube on the river, I say good for them and clap. But if I see these 18 year old girls with their tank tops and their ass cracks showing, I feel embarrassed for them. I mean, it's like... Yeah, it looks hot in a way, but not in the good way. They look like whores to me. It looks hot in the "I'd like to fuck her, but I don't want to know her name, or let anyone know I even let her speak to me" kind of way.

It's scary as shit. Maybe I envy them. They're young, thin, tone, and they drive cars worth more than my wife's and mine annual budget. So, for my part, I feel like I might as well mow the lawn in a hawaiian shirt, khaki pants, wearing black socks and slippers, listening to the Dave Matthews Band. Because if I am this incapable of understanding and relating to people only about 13 years younger, then there's very little hope for me in the years to come.

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Who is John Galt?

Cynthetiq

HA! You had email? When I was in college that was like WTF you talking about having to check your private messages on a BBS? Telnet was just starting and a few 32 line BBS's had telnet capability.

Anyways, I don't envy them. I'm glad that I'm not them, every time I think it would be great to go back, I think, "I didn't like being poor, insecure in all my thoughts and actions, and thinking that I knew better than everyone else."

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I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not.

Willravel

They annoyed the fuck out of me when I was 21. A lot of the morons usually drop the class after a bit.

When was showing skin not considered fucking awesome? I mean my college years would have sucked without gorgeous coeds. Still, I can understand at 24 that 18 year olds aren't particularly interesting anymore. I got older and they stayed the same age.
You don't?!

snowy

I'm 25, finishing up my degree after two years off, and I gotta say--I agree with most of what you say.

Cell phone manners in particular bother me. There is a guy in my math class who wears a Bluetooth earpiece, and sits in the back of the lecture hall so he can talk on his phone all class, presumably without the instructor noticing him. In my multicultural issues in education class--which is a class full of future teachers--there are a couple of people who spend the entire class texting.

One thing, though--these things happen more often in the introductory classes. Once you get into the upper-level classes in your discipline, the people who spent class sleeping or texting have disappeared--either they've switched to an easier major or they've been kicked out of school completely. The writing class I'm taking (an upper-level class) contains no skanks, and the closest thing we have to slackers are the athletes (who can't really help it, they're basketball players and basketball is in season; when they are in class, they contribute a lot). No one texts, and only twice has someone's cell phone interrupted class (once was the instructor, and the other was me--both of us had forgotten to put our phones on silent before class, whoops). Compared to my math class, which is a 100-level class filled with freshmen, it's much better.

I guarantee you'll notice a difference once you get further along; you'll only have to see the sorostitutes when you're walking on campus.

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If I am not better, at least I am different. --Jean-Jacques Rousseau

ShaniFaye

email wasnt even a word when I was those kids age. I would be willing to bet those people you talk about are not the ones paying for their own education

I have felt like you for a few years and Im not even in college lol

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I want the diabetic plan that comes with rollover carbs. I dont like the unused one expiring at midnite!!

vanblah

The one thing you have that you can lord over them is that they, too, will one day be old and out-of-touch. You don't have to be afraid of getting old anymore -- they do.

Then you can laugh at them for real.

Prince

That is an excellent point. I didn't think of that.

That's an excellent word. I hadn't heard that one before.

Though it's not them that bother me as much as the very fact that they bother me. If that makes sense. I've always had a very laissez-faire attitude about people - as in, whatever floats your boat is cool - and I've been politically quite unattached and liberal. And I see much of that open-mindedness chipping away as I grow older, and it bothers me.

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Who is John Galt?

ShaniFaye

I know how you feel....I well remember the day I realized I'd turned into my mother....it was a very eye opening day for me......all those years of thinking I was NEVER going to have the attitudes she did about "young kids today"....and it happened...

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I want the diabetic plan that comes with rollover carbs. I dont like the unused one expiring at midnite!!

Leto

sororstitutes is a good word. Maps to the term 'MRS' degree that we used which was applied to girls who were in a degree programme that was obviously aimed at landing a meds student as a husband.

Now that seems inflammatory to state, but there were the obvious male versions as well. Even I tried my best to hook up with a female meds student. Too bad I was somewhat immature at the time!

I totally agree with the lack of cell phone etiquette, the proliferation of laptops in lectures. Perhaps if the university didn't provide open access to the internet, and had a restricted intranet on campass it would alleviate that facebook issue.

Part of my MO in lecture was to scribe down the notes on a clip board and then as part of my daily review was to type (heh... yes manual typewritter) them up and put them in a duo-tang. This manual review helped me to retain what the lecture was trying to state, and became study notes.

I don't see this as happening with supposed use of laptops in lecture. Trying to keep up with typing notes would have destroyed me.

email? we weren't allowed into the computer area except to enter data on our punch cards for out statistics labs. These cards were given to the TA to run through the card reader, and we had to wait for our output to be placed on the shelves under our last name. There was no email to distract us.

But we did have the student pub (s) and often it was hard to keep our eyes open in 8 AM lectures because of that. But then, First year university was usually 18 - 19 year olds, which is legal drinking age.

Nowadays, first year students are 1 to 2 years younger (partly as a result of the elimination of grade 13 in high school) which could help to explain the maturity issue. If they only knew how much it costs to take a year of university. If they only knew how priviledged they really were.

Ustwo

Youth is wasted on the young.

I can't claim to have been any better in college, and it wasn't until I graduated that I got something of a wake up call.

Thats not to say I'd be disruptive in class, I'd just miss them, a lot. I suppose that says something for most of my classes. The really difficult ones I'd go to but the average class didn't take that much brain power daily so I'd try to cram it all in at the end.

Sort of ironic that my GPA would have been higher in college if my courses were more difficult for me.

Really few have a real goal while in college, they are just getting their degree, followed by sending off job applications. Pre-med students mostly know what they need to move on so they will be more focused as a rule (I was an exception to that rule) but the average student doesn't have that sort of self inflicted pressure.

This turns college into highschool, where getting laid, going to parties, and socializing trump everything, at every hour of the day.

So at 31, you know what you are there for, what you want to do, why you want to be there. At 19, you know your parents want you to be there, it beats working, it seems like fun, and maybe it will get you a job thingy for a lot of money when you are done.

Of course if someone would have told me that then I'd have denied it, I was there for an education and maybe other kids were like that but not me, hell I was acing most of my exams why go to class?

Then again it did all work out, so maybe I wasn't so dumb.

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Charlatan

That is very true. My first year in University was a washout. I just couldn't get my shit together. I took the next year off and came to a quick realization that working shitty, deadend jobs for the rest of my life would blow. I actually liked being in school.

When I went back I didn't look back.

The point snowy made about the narrowing of the crowd the higher further you get is very true. By the time I was doing my last year of school, the class size was tiny and the quality of courses were stellar.

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- Old Man Luedecke

abaya

Telnet... rock on. Those were the mid-90s, baby!!

__________________
And think not you can direct the course of Love;
for Love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.
--Khalil Gibran

blahblah454

Currently I am almost 23, and I agree with every thing that you said. I can't stand the bloody people who are on there cell phones all day.

When I am in the computer lab with other people trying to get homework done and we have 3 different people blabbing in their phones like they are in a rock concert, makes me want to get up and just close the phone on their ear.

Like willravel said, I end up missing lots of classes, all the easy ones or the ones with teachers that hardly speak english. But the classes I do go to I am very respectful in, show up on time and take great notes. The classes I miss I still do all the homework in, and make up the information on my own time.

And the little sluts driving daddy's car and wearing clothing that wouldn't fit a 12 year old, sure they are a blast to look at, but as far as actually talking to them? No thanks, I don't need that drop in IQ

Ustwo

I don't want to call you a lair, but..... I don't know how to finish that statement.

__________________
Agents of the enemies who hold office in our own government, who attempt to eliminate our "freedoms" and our "right to know" are posting among us, I fear.....on this very forum. - host

Obama - Know a Man by the friends he keeps.

TotalMILF

OH. MY. GOD. I know exactly how you feel.

In my Intro to Theatre class today we had group presentations on "The Importance of Being Earnest". I honestly couldn't believe how little people had worked on this project, which was a large part of our grade. One chick drew costumes, which is great.... except that she has NO talent. My friend's four-year-old daughter draws better than that, not even kidding. And they were all chewing gum, and every other word was, "uh..." or "like" or something equally retarded. And half of them got the material wrong (one guy thought they play took place during WWII!! He was only half a century off...). And the students watching the presentation were all either asleep or texting or doodling. Or talking.

But ya know what? I have a 3.85 GPA right now, and most of them don't. So HA!!! *grumble*

Yeah, I'm definitely feeling old.

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"I'm sorry, all I heard was blah blah blah, I'm a dirty tramp."

blahblah454

Actually Ustwo, that wasn't a lie. Yes they are great to look at but they suddenly lose all there appeal once you talk to them.

If you want to hang out with diseased skanky idiots then thats your business, but don't invite me over.

Ustwo

So you are saying an attractive girl from a wealthy family who isn't ashamed of her body and doesn't mind flaunting it is by default, a diseased skanky idiot who will lower your IQ by talking to them?

I think you doth protest too much.

__________________
Agents of the enemies who hold office in our own government, who attempt to eliminate our "freedoms" and our "right to know" are posting among us, I fear.....on this very forum. - host

Obama - Know a Man by the friends he keeps.

blahblah454

Point taken!

But as a personal note, I do tend to be more attracted to conservative girls.

rlbond86

I'm in college and things aren't like that in Engineering. But man, my general university studies classes just make me ashamed of mankind.

Fotzlid

Look at it this way, at least you'll know the names of the people serving you your fries.