Opinions

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GHC doesn't have an easy button

 
 Jehna Holder

Somebody's got to say it


By James Swift
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Staff Writer

College is a place to grow up

By James Swift
[email protected]
Staff Writer

I am staring down a three-year tenure at a two-year institution.

Knowing that one must dedicate him or herself to anything for 731 days is a daunting task, but college in itself is a particularly grueling experience.

Financial woes are a ubiquitous concern regardless, but knowing that one requires at least $1,000 plus book costs to further fuel one's dreams and aspirations is enough to bring even the most stoic to tears.

It's not easy. In fact, it's absolutely heartbreaking. For what is supposedly "the happiest time of one's life," many are most certainly living anything but a blithe existence. Math tests become a trek of trepidation. Test results are no longer indicators of one's forward progress, but a demarcation of where one's dream life may die. Suddenly, college life becomes "real life."

"College," despite any connotation the word may have absorbed, is not a reference to an educational institution or a geographical location. College is a trial, a continuous tribulation in which one transitions from the irresponsible bastion of adolescence into becoming a full-grown adult, complete with all of the hardships associated.

One must consider what he or she wants to do in life and what he or she must do in life. Often, the branching paths do not coincide.

For those of you out there lingering on the prospect of fulfilled dreams, remember that life isn't anchored by hopeful prospects, but rather the notions of stability and financial dependability, a painful initiation into reality.

College isn't a place to earn a diploma or secure previously unachievable job opportunities. It's a place where one goes to grow up.