Time to Shine

As I sit here, in a vinyl throne found on a road side, a guitar upright on one side, and some odd sort of art to my right, I ponder what it means to be college student, at this juncture in time, and existence.

These things, these musing, this is what a college life offers.

Music

Likely the most easily visible aspect of the college student's world, is the music they fill their life with. Indie to Rap, Southern Country Rock to Swiss Prog Metal, there is no definite genre. Instead, the eclectic view of each individual, the mixing of types, the crossing of beats and notes, is the genre of the college culture. And not only is it the types we listen to, but also the formats. Our generation has been one born under the vinyl record and 8-track. The first toddlers to have Fisher Price tape decks. The early adolescents raised on the compact disc. The first 20 somethings to have digital media freely available over the internet. Just here in my dorm room, I have 3 vinyl records, 16 CDs, and 1900 songs on my iTunes.

There never seems to be an absence of music in each college persons day. A walk to class reveals a pair of headphones on most every person. A pan across a dorm room shows computers containing music libraries, speakers strewn from end to end. The constant hum of a walk down the hall tells you someone is always listening.

Passions

High School is a clique scene, an environment where you're fairly defined into one or two identifiable arenas. You're the Band Kid. The Jock. The Aggie. Film kid. There aren't hard rules for each, but generally where you spend your time, what your passion is, that's who you are. People get a general overview of who you are, based on those passions.

College rips that world apart, smashes it together, tears it to shreds again, and blends it for good measure. HS saw everyone studying the same basic concepts, with a few special interest classes here and there. College quickly becomes all about passion. Economics really drives you? Have a sharp mind for design? These things start to become apparent as classes grow more and more specialized. Suddenly no one is nearly as easily defined as they were in HS. The young man who was always playing his trumpet in high school, suddenly is a savvy anthropologist in the making, with a quick tongue in spanish, and a fire for music education.

Everyone is not that clearly defined however. While the college kid may be defined by their passions, they're also defined by the search for those passions. One semester they try an art class. Then a criminal justice course. Free time is spent on video games, learning guitar, talking with people they may have never talked to in high school. Diverse options available in college, breed diversity in its students.

Self

Surprise. You get to do anything you want. Everything is on you.

This offers a whole new opportunity for many young people, to finally have the chance to think for themselves. There is an chance to form opinions, learn from others. Live in a world not clearly defined by mommy and daddy.

With this new chance, he or she learns what comes with their opinions. How to disagree, ways to show they approve of others opinions. A college kid learns that doing something fun, isn't always smart. Something smart, won't always be fun. The things a parent always told you to do, suddenly make sense now. Sure, it made sense then. Now you see what they were talking about though! Now, you're doing it for yourself, with your own best interest in mind.

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I enjoy the college life. The self sufficiency. I like to think I'm finally getting some things right, making choices that are smart, helping people with experience, rather than opinion. Another semester is closing, and I've messed up, I've succeeded, and I've learned.

And I'm all the better for it.