The Stereotypes Of College Students

Katie Couric, Aretha Franklin, Condoleezza Rice, Leigh Anne Tuohy, Rosa Parks, Kate Spade, Robert Frost, Steven Spielberg, John F. Kennedy, Harrison Ford, Eli Manning, George W. Bush. I could go on with this list for hours. These are all familiar names to us for what they have accomplished in the past or the present. If I told you that all of these individuals participated in Greek life during their times during college, would you be stunned? As college students, we are all given a commonly misconceived stereotype of fraternities and sororities as a whole.

Growing up, parents, teachers, and elders always emphasize the importance of an education to the younger generations. High school students are pushed and encouraged towards college for the next big step in their life. By the time kids step into high school it’s drilled into their heads that to make something of oneself they need to pursue a college education. In reality, are high school graduates even prepared for the challenges that they will soon face? High schools are not preparing their kids for the “college experience” that in turns leaves them lacking the know-how they will need for the workforce.

Growing up, school was not a major factor in my life. I come from a hard-working, middle-class military family. My mother, a Filipino immigrant, was a homemaker. My father was a 21-year United States Marine veteran. They were my first impression of what I thought my future would be. Being the youngest of four children, I was expected to fall in line behind my siblings when it came to education. I was never pushed to excel in my studies, so I did just enough to get by. As I watched friends escape the grasp of a military town and ascend to their respective colleges, I was left wondering what was next for me. I attended my local community college for a brief period of time. I treated college no different than high school. I

“In fall 2016, some 20.5 million students are expected to attend American colleges and universities, constituting an increase of about 5.2 million since fall 2000” (National Center for Education Statistics). That number seems to be rising each and ever year, and it almost seems as students feel like they have to go to college directly after high school. Maybe it is because they feel that they have to fit in, even if college is not for them. Although some students attend college for academics, sports, and other reasons, some students attend college for no apparent reason; with that in mind, students should take into consideration the time and money that is put into going to college.

The transition from high school to college is a dynamic time in one’s life that parallels the change from childhood to adulthood. Both of these changes are dramatic and, as a result, feelings are difficult to put down into words. A messy combination of emotions fills the heart, surfacing in strange ways. Confident high school seniors go right back to the bottom of the chain when entering college as freshmen. These students start all over, just like entering grade school or high school for the first time. The move up from high school to college signals the switch from dependence to self-sufficiency. From a personal point of view, going through the experience of graduating high school and transferring to a residential college campus at STLCOP, made me realize I was no longer a kid and capable of making my own decisions.

Decisions made prior to the age of eighteen always seem like a crisis until you have met the mother of all crisis, your final college decision. I found myself staring my future directly in the face almost a year ago wondering where I would further my education just as much as the people pressuring an answer from me. After months of self deliberation, I set my sights on Prairie View A&M University for fall enrollment, albeit if you would have asked me just a few months before I would have turned my face up and dismissed the university as even an option. Stereotypes of universities that historically known as predominantly populated by black students skewed their image for me. Eventually, my outlook was enlightened through educating myself more

As adolescents begin their senior year, the topic of college often runs without hindrance, often causing extreme stress. As the monetary value, as well as the time spent, begins to accumulate in their minds, students often find themselves bound at the wrists figuring out a way to balance as well as afford college living. In many cases, the upcoming graduates are unsure about their career path, almost enhancing their stress in choosing a school that would cater to their needs. It is almost then they begin to ponder whether or not University/college life is for them, which is could be an extremely advantageous shot in a, for example, high achieving family. Whilst college does allow for a plethora of doors to be opened, the lack of time, effort, and money can hinder one 's ability to properly choose a university. Though school can help with the stepping stones of life, they do not entirely ensure a proper future, therefore many may opt out of school; however, with the correct actions, they may turn out extremely successful, which may not have even happened without the release of the burden of school.

Community College Students Community college students should be better understood for who they are and not by stereotypes and misconceptions. A stereotype is a conventional, formulaic, and oversimplified conception, opinion, or image. A misconception is a view or a opinion that is incorrect because it is based on faulty thinking. Not all stereotypes and misconceptions are negative towards groups but are assumptions. People have stereotypes because humans are quick judgers and jump to conclusions based on what society hears on certain types of groups that sometimes are true.

Often students take high school for granted; consequently it shows when they reach college. For example, in high school, teachers may accept late work, tardiness, and continuous inappropriate behavior. The college classes that they will have to face will not tolerate such things as this. Preparing for the work load and lifestyle is the two most important objectives to grasp early.

It is a well known fact but there are many people including counselors, parents, teachers, and friends who resist saying it out loud for fear it will sound like discouragement and negativity: college is definitely not for everyone. The pressure on high schools students, especially those that excel, to attend a college or university is enormous. And in the case of a bright, industrious and motivated high school student, attending a college or university is an obvious career choice. For those students, it's only a matter of what university to attend, whether one's SAT score is high enough, and the availability of the money. Then there are the millions of high school students who are not really personally motivated but are being pressured by their counselors, teachers and parents should they attend college if they really don't care? This paper examines those issues.

Beginning with the fatalistic discourse utilized by my family, peers, and educators, I internalized such thoughts, and implicitly understood that, quite naturally, I would make the predestined transition to college from high school. Finding

As you walk in you hear your teacher addressing the class, “This project will help prepare you for being a mother.” Your teacher passes out a sack of flour and a pair of button eyes to everyone; you are enthusiastic that you get to choose a name for your flour baby and dress it however you choose. you learn that you will become responsible for the baby for the next two weeks. you discover that you are going to be graded on how well the baby is taken care of and the condition of the paper sack after the two weeks has ended. Next you go to history, and learn about the Bill of Rights. You find yourself slowly zoning in and out, because after all, you have been learning about this stuff for years. you think back to a teacher you had when you were younger who got fired for teaching against the government’s strict educational guidelines. Afterward you have biology, where you cover the topic of evolution. Many of your classmates ask questions regarding a creator, considering the majority of them are religious. For this they are punished, and the other students laugh at them as they are asked to leave the classroom. “Typical high schoolers,” you mumble.

In many circles of the world, various groups of people distinguish themselves from one another through religion, language, culture, and sometimes gender. People also develop stereotypes about a particular group of people in order to identify them. However, most of the time, these stereotypes hold true for only some members of a group. Sometimes, these stereotypes are just plain misconceptions that do not even apply to the group it claims to. Stereotypes are placed on people because it is a way to easily identify what type of person or ethnicity an individual is. At one point in time, these stereotypes may have been true; however, in today’s modern society, most of these stereotypes are outdated and false, which leads them to turn into

When I was a little girl my friends and I always talked about what we were going to be when we grew up. Some said a teacher; others said a nurse, secretary, and even a mom. I knew what I was going to be, but what we don't think about is how we get to be these things. We float through elementary school, having small children fun. Next we go to middle school trying to find our ways in the world, some of us worries about grades, and some don't. Not many thinking ahead of high school, let alone college. In high school we soon realize that grades are very important and better grades give you a better chance at better colleges. So those of us who want to go to college start cramping down on our studies so we can get those desirable grades. I may have not been the perfect student throughout high school. My Study habits could have been better, but one thing I do know is that I want to do more with my life than just a high school diploma.

Yet, the education does not stop at middle school, for high school really puts all the basic skills from elementary and middle school to work as the assignments and the exams become more challenging. We do not only learn about reading, writing, history, and math, we learn about the people around us as we associate with different personalities, and as we see what we have grown up to be and what we want to be later in life. Accordingly, the high school years are a time when teachers emphasize the importance of graduating and attending college in order to have a “succesful future.”