What's your 'college life' like?

Student Lounge College Life
21

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I have to agree with collegehopeful99 - "depth" - what is it and why do you want it?

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<p>Alright first off let me make sure we're both referring to the same kind of 'depth' here. Depth, as defined by dictionary.com, is:</p>

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<li>Intellectual complexity or penetration; profundity: a novel of great depth.</li>
<li>The range of one's understanding or competence: I am out of my depth when it comes to cooking.</li>
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<p>Here is a great definition in my opinion:
12. Complete detail; thoroughness: the depth of her research; an interview conducted in great depth.</p>

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What virtue does it have? Does it serve any purpose at all?

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<p>To attain depth is continous penetration into the very fundamentals of men and reality. With this continous penetration, we may come to finally understand what we believe to be those very fundamentals. That is, we find our true beliefs, what we truly find beautiful and desirable in life, and best of all, we find our true framework for how to live life. Without some thoroughness in life, we begin to feel lost. We feel lost because we do not feel whole. We do not feel whole because we have realized that we have not found ourselves yet or even attempted to.</p>

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Does it do anything besides make us unhappy?

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<p>How does it make someone *un*happy to search for such things in their life?</p>

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I have to say that at one point I certainly thought as you did. I realized a few things; first, that even if someone parties hard, they can still be a fascinating and very intelligent person, second, that depth isn't really what I want out of my life, and third, a little bit of the problem was that I was just being resentful. Even though I told myself I wasn't and that I was better than all of those people.

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<p>You think I am being resentful? For what? Why would I be resentful?</p>

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I do enjoy philosophy and sociology and all of those deep intellectual pursuits. I'm looking forward the summer when I'll have some time - to read Nietzche during the day and head to beach parties at night. It's a good way to be. My friend, I am studying five out of seven nights a week. If I want to live a little on the weekends, I hope that there aren't people like you who look down on me for it.

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<p>Heck no. I would never look down at people for something even I do sometimes. I guess my post sort of implies that partying is bad or something when in reality that is not my aim. But rather I aim at something different here: the framework of the individual while they are in college. Do they have one? Are they searching for it? Do they want one? If not, why?</p>

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<p>I am in my 5th year of college. When I am done I will have spent two years living in a dorm at college A, 6 hours from home, and three years as a commuter at college B. I can say that I have many acquaintances but no real friends. I never really hung out with anybody outside of class. When I am not at school I am at home 20 miles away in my apartment. On Friday nights when I want to take a break from the stress of school I order some food, sometimes get a beer and kick back and watch a movie. Sometimes I am even readings books and magazines. And when new video games come out, I play those (haven’t done so since the spring). My lifestyle was the same when I lived in a dorm at a big college. As an introvert (ISTJ type) I prefer quiet and relaxing settings over the loud party scene. Back in high school I used to look down on my classmates who resorted to rampant drinking and sex for fun. I didn’t feel a part of the group at all. But as I went through college I adopted a different view. They have their life and I have mine. I could not fathom being a member of the party scene because it is so contradictory to how I like to live my life. Sometime I wished I was the guy who could hook up with any girl I wanted to and loved going to bars, but it just isn’t me….it is not what I am programmed to do. However, I don’t look down on those who do have that life unless they allow the immaturity and low self-discipline of the party scene to affect their daily behavior in school, job, etc. There is a time and a place for everything. Have fun at home, be serious at work and school.</p>

<p>My main goal right now is to get out of school. The academic world isn’t suitable for me. It sort of feels suffocating because there are many things that I would like to do, but as an engineering major, the engineering work often gets in the way, or maybe I let it get in the way too much. My first two years of college were extremely difficult in regards to academics, and even though the years at my second school have been very good, that old mentality of “schoolwork, schoolwork, and nothing but schoolwork” still exists. For example, I aspire to be a leader in various organizations, groups, etc. But my mentality with schoolwork kept me from going out and getting involved in activities. I guess it won’t be any better when I graduate since the jobs I am looking at are very demanding and may require frequent travel.</p>

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What are those reasons?

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<p>I told you already--they don't need to. They are doing what brings them happiness. Call it whatever you want, I'd put money on them having a heck of a lot more fun than you are (or me, or mostly anyone who has participated in this thread). They are happy. </p>

<p>You may need to examine your life to be happy. They don't, so why should they?</p>

<p>Diff'rent strokes.</p>

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<p>adconard,
I see many similarities in our manner of thinking. Most people go through life with no goals, no objectives, and no deeper signifiance to their actions. They live for the moment without realizing it, and they could not live otherwise. To other people, such as us, I suppose, this sort of unexamined life is intolerable. I cannot, however say, that we are making the right decision. If they are happier on the whole, then it is difficult to condemn them. </p>

<p>There is a danger in too much thinking; in this too it is possible to over-indulge. In the end, everything is futile because everything is temporary. My philosophical musings about meaning and valid are no more valid than another eighteen-year-old's binge-drinking. I could never be happy doing that, so I avoid it. Someone else finds thinking burdensome and actively avoids it.</p>

<p>I have never been able to convlusively say that I am happy with my life. The cause of this, I suppose, is an incessent need to pick out all the shortcomings of everyone I see, including myself. At the same time, the typical 'college lifestyle' is abhorrent to me. </p>

<p>Finally, it should come as no suprise that I'm studying philosophy and psychology.</p>

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<p>I think nomir gets it. Ignorance is bliss...it really is.</p>

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<p>My workload is a lot of fun, so it doesn't seem like work to me. I am a Mass Communications major with a concentration in Cinematography/TV Production, so I LOVE reading the material for Film class, or memorizing f-stops for TV Production. My minor is Psychology and that is the only "real" "work" that I do, but even that is fun. I have a lot of fun just studying and reading my textbooks because they cover what I love most anyway--movies, film, and communications in general.</p>

<p>I do have several friends. My two best friends from high school go to my school. One is my roommate, the other is our next door neighbor who rooms with our other best friend. So the four of us are very tight nit. The best friend from high school that lives next door has the same major and minor as I do, so we have almost every class together with the exception of languages. I have Latin, she has French. Other than that, I hang out with my music friends. Having band practice all week lets me hang out with my drummer buds and band buds, so socially, I am never alone. Sometimes, when my roommate is working, my other two close friends will break off and go to their room, and I'll stay in mine to give ourselves a little peace and quiet (during which I usually start to clean because I am mildly OCD)</p>

<p>So most of my nights are spent writing on my laptop or studying with the sounds of the tv in the background. I have the biggest TV on the floor and a huge collection of DVDs, so we usually have 5-10 people in their every night watching movies or tv.</p>

<p>Am I satisfied? Yeah, I am. Sometimes I feel a little stagnate since most of my classes are lecture classes and no hands on classes. I got bitten by the camera bug last year in TV Productions and I have been itching to get my hands back on a camera ever since. I also want to begin interning, but unfortunately the place I was going to apply for (WDSU in New Orleans) evacuated to Jackson or Baton Rouge, so that is on hold. I was also going to cut my teeth in the film industry since "Southern Hollywood" was booming down here, but since the hurricane, movies have been put on hold, and I am fairly sure they will not becoming back because I don't think Louisiana will keep up the tax breaks.
But overall, I am very satisfied with my life. I love my friends, I adore my family (even if half of them are living in my house until their power comes back on/pull the 60 foot tree of their roof) and I like my classload.</p>

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<p>I think where you guys are heading is the meaning of life. I think i am like the "other people" who live by the moment. I set goals for myself such as transferring out of cc and becoming a doctor and other things to fulfill my life. Yes you guys would probably call it temporary happiness and fulfillment, but i'm perfectly fine with it. I'm satisfied and happy because there is so much to do in life. I think what makes life exciting is all the unknown we have to face, like playing a game unsure of the outcomes. I have never really questioned the meaning of life and if i do i turn to religion for my answer. Yes maybe you would think relgion is also a bandaid to life or temporary fullfillment, but I am satisfied with its answer. I think thinking too much about why we are here makes people unhappy. That is why I live by the moment or turn to religion for my answers.</p>

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<p>Are the band-aids covering the hole? Are the band-aids in the hole? I'd hate to think I have a hole full of band-aids somewhere.</p>

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<p>I agree with sakura812. I am a victim of often thinking too much. Yes, being an intellectual is great and it's important, but by far the most important thing in my life is being happy. I also have goals of getting my BS degree in biology, transferring out of this situation I am in, be it out of this university or just moving out of home. But I've lived a lot, and I've been up and down. Being happy is number one, then everything else will come onto place. I also do think that having goals is very important. My goal is to get to medical school, and perhaps out of here, and it's motivating me to get a 4.0, which will help me in both my pursuits. Yes there are times when I think about things, but you need to have faith in something, to believe in something, and realize that you need those bandaids. Yes, some people drift through life, but it shouldn't matter to you, so you should take control of yours. I have faith in my skills, and I believe they will lead me to success. Also, reflection is important, but you should always be looking forward, not back.</p>

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<p>"Are the band-aids covering the hole? Are the band-aids in the hole? I'd hate to think I have a hole full of band-aids somewhere."
To these thinkers, every thing we do is only a temporary fulfillment to happiness. We aren't thinking deep enough about why we are doing it (i.e getting a college degree, traveling, partying, having kids). We are merely following and conforming to society. I think what they are getting is at why are we doing these things if they do not add to the meaning of life. What happens when we die? What happens to all the things we do in life? Do they serve a purpose at all when we die? We aren't looking in depth at the true purpose of life and often we do not seek the purpose of life. To them we are just a bunch of shallow people doing these things not knowing its true value in life. That is why they coined the pharse "bandaid." In essence we are doing these things that may or may not add to the purpose of life, but we are doing it to make ourselves temporarily happy and fulfilled. However, I think it depends on how you see it. To them we are covering ourselves with bandaid, but to me and probably the other non thinkers its the stuff that we do that adds meaning to life. I think all the things we do serve as a purpose to life. I do not see myself covered with bandaids while the thinkers may see me as a person doing things just to gain temporary happiness. Maybe your just like me who do not see yourself covered with bandaids. And that's perfectly fine. So long as you're happy and satisfied with your life it doesn't matter if we are cover with bandaids or not. Perhaps we are simply here to embrace with the unknown. Wow, I'm wondering if all the stuff i'm saying makes sense.</p>

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<p>im sorta like that.. i have lots of acquaintaances (we eat lunch, study together and stuff), but no real "friends" in college atm..
commuting doesn't help either :/</p>

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<p>eos i know exactly how you feel...i commute too...
i actually miss my friends from high school :( they didn't feel so...temporary as people here do :(</p>