Don't chase the college "experience".
College is full of value-added features that have been labeled the "college experience", but as implemented on the modern campus this has been reduced to canned activities lead by administrative professionals. That is, the self-generated college experience of past students is largely absent on the modern campus. Sort of the difference between Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay climbing to the summit of Everest compared to a tech CEO being carried to the summit by Sherpas. Both reach the top of the mountain, but only one is an authentic experience.
It is my belief that only students are capable of creating the authentic college experience. Universities simply produce a simulated experience that functions primarily as a marketing tool. I attended a state university during the last half of the 1980's, and we had some excellent times. Not that the customary staff-arranged mixer with the ladies of the adjacent dorm was not useful, but it pales in comparison to what a group of 10 or so could experience with a half-cord of firewood, some worn out camping gear, and a couple of cases of Keystone Lite. You simply have not lived until you ride down the Devil's Slide in Palo Duro Canyon after a night gathered around a campfire showing off and telling lies to your mates. The authentic experiences were not curated, and frequently not all that safe. Folks have died on the west side of the slide (so, please, ride the other side), and a night of merriment and drinking is not exactly preparing for the rigors of the adventure.
What does the modern university offer in terms of the "college experience"? Well, let's see. There are lazy river water parks, climbing walls, safe spaces with stuffed animals in the library (libraries are dangerous, its where the knowledge lives), and endless bureaucrats to monitor and intervene should the situation get the slightest bit interesting. This can all be yours for the cost of about $20,000 per year.
Given the previous paragraph, you might think that I don't like universities. Nothing is further from the truth. The university is a great place to obtain the credentialing needed for many careers, get exposure to a diverse array of viewpoints, and mature a bit before entering the real world. In fact, I stayed for about 10 years and earned a doctorate in biology. However, if you're looking for a life experience, you can do better.
For example, after high school, I went to work as a mechanic for the City of Midland in Texas. While most would consider this a mundane life, in fact, I learned a great deal and met some interesting people. My mentor Leon Hughes was a former pipeline welder and shared many stories about owning a business during the oil field boom of the late '70s and early '80s. Despite his sixth-grade education, he had tons of consequential knowledge about "mechanicing" and life. This is where I learned from Leon that there are good times, like when he and his wife were living large and buying diamonds, fur coats and Cadillacs, and not so good times, like when you were barely getting by maintaining tractors for the city golf course. A real world advantage of this segment of my education is that I rarely pay to have my vehicles repaired, and I am passing this ability on to my sons as best as I can (we just replaced the torque converter on our Dodge's transmission). Also, unlike the modern curated diversity found on the modern university, I interacted with individuals with vastly different backgrounds. Cruz, one of the nicest men I have ever met, walked from Mexico to Texas, and back, a few times. One morning while sharing egg and potato burritos, we talked about his time in a Mexican prison. Apparently, he stabbed a guy in a bar fight. On another morning, while walking across the shop to get a cup of coffee, I heard a goat bleating. "That's strange" I thought. Turns out this was the main course for a celebration, and the men spent the week preparing a pit for a barbecue. My time there was an experience that I was paid a salary to do ... not something that was provided with tuition.
After working as a mechanic, but before I went to the university, I took a road trip across the western United States. This was on the cheep. I slept in the back of my truck at national parks and campgrounds for a bit more than a month. For breakfast at Rocky Mountain National Park, my bananas were frozen. In Colorado, I spent several hours talking to the cute girl running a gondola near Salinas. The wind started gusting after I reached the top, and it took that long for me to work up the courage for the ride back down. At Yellowstone, I felt the rumble of the Earth before geysers erupted. In Oregon, I drove on the beach and waded in the Pacific Ocean. In Utah, I got lost and never did find Arches National Park. Back in those days we used paper maps to get around, so no Google Maps to point the way. In Seattle, I ran out of gas on the interstate because I was foolish and distracted by the Space Needle. I walked to the nearest station and bummed a gas can, bought some gas, and don't think I've run out of gas since. This trip was definitely an experience at a fraction of the cost of the university.
So, if your looking for an experience, seek out experiences. Ignore any marketing by the university as an exciting "college" experience. Water parks and climbing walls are available off campus. You are there to learn and develop powerful tools for the future. The college experience is nice, but no substitute for the real thing.
June 9, 2023
Leisure Pool Ranked as One of the Nation's Best
"I've got my toes in the water, ass in the sand, not a worry in the world, a cold beer in my hand, life is good today, life is good today."