imnexthere
Don Juan
Lately many of our older DJs on the forum have gone to their college orientations and as an incoming high school senior that has got me thinking seriously about college and what kind of life I want for myself in the future.
The way I see it there are 2 major choices that we must make as we leave high school. Our major and what kind of education we are looking for out of our college years and whether we want to go away or stay near our families. I wont be covering the 1st choice here because everyone is different and that is a very individual choice. What I want to discuss is whether to stay at home, find an apartment or live on campus and what it ultimately means about our sence of independence. I'll be talking alot about my situation and what I've seen. Maybe I'm wrong but then again....
I live in NYC and as a result have many outstanding colleges very close to me. This is both a blessing and a curse. It's great in that it would allow many to live at home and thus save a ton of money . It is a curse in that it would allow many to live at home and thus never actually grow up.
I have seen first hand what living at home during college years can do to a person. I like to call it the "high school plus" syndrome in that these people live like they are pretty much still in high school. They live, sleep and eat on their parents dime, they live in the same room that they have always been in and so on. While this is a great way to save money it's a ****ty way to grow up. Living like this in my experience does only one thing
sap one's will to succeed. And why wouldnt it? These people can just go to class and sit on their ass the rest of the day knowing that everything is taken care of and they are essentially treated like kids. My cousin graduated college after living at home and it totally ruined her. She went from going to a top high school, having tons of ambition academically to after living at home in "high school plus" for 4 years her life is pure ****. She doesn't care and has a crummy job and guess whatshe still lives at home surprise surprise when you are treated like a kid you dont want to grow up.
My other cousin who is the same age turned out totally different. She was a screw up in high school and barely got a diploma. Yet when she turned 18 her father told her that he would pay for college but she needed to "get the **** out of his house". So she did. It was a tough 4 years of her essentially having no money but now that she graduated her will to succeed is massive. She just finished her masters in psycology at NYU, got married, had a kid and is definately on the right track.
This brings me to my situation. Being that I am a hypocrite I want as much independence as possible while also having some money. Right now I have it easy. I have a great paying job that will by the end of the summer have given me just enough money to finish paying off my car and insurance for the next year but for college I have 2 options.
I can either go away to U.of Tampa ($17k + room&board /year) or Baruch CityHonestly Baruch College here in NYC ($7k/year). Both are great for what I want to do but both would give me vastly different living situations. Tampa would afford me the typical college dorm lifestyle which would be great and I think I would enjoy it very much. But it costs alot and a chunk of the $$$ would have to come from my pocket leaving me with no money because my awesomely well paying job is sitting in NJ. On the other hand I could go to Baruch and live in NYC. The tuition is cheap enough that my father has agreed to pick up the entire tab for me leaving me with pleanty of money. However, there is no way in hell that I will be living in my house. My house is a 2 family with a fully separate apartment attached. Would living in an apartment be enough to help be live on my own and avoid the temptation to go upstairs and have my parents take care of everything? Only time will tell.
The way I see it there are 2 major choices that we must make as we leave high school. Our major and what kind of education we are looking for out of our college years and whether we want to go away or stay near our families. I wont be covering the 1st choice here because everyone is different and that is a very individual choice. What I want to discuss is whether to stay at home, find an apartment or live on campus and what it ultimately means about our sence of independence. I'll be talking alot about my situation and what I've seen. Maybe I'm wrong but then again....
I live in NYC and as a result have many outstanding colleges very close to me. This is both a blessing and a curse. It's great in that it would allow many to live at home and thus save a ton of money . It is a curse in that it would allow many to live at home and thus never actually grow up.
I have seen first hand what living at home during college years can do to a person. I like to call it the "high school plus" syndrome in that these people live like they are pretty much still in high school. They live, sleep and eat on their parents dime, they live in the same room that they have always been in and so on. While this is a great way to save money it's a ****ty way to grow up. Living like this in my experience does only one thing
sap one's will to succeed. And why wouldnt it? These people can just go to class and sit on their ass the rest of the day knowing that everything is taken care of and they are essentially treated like kids. My cousin graduated college after living at home and it totally ruined her. She went from going to a top high school, having tons of ambition academically to after living at home in "high school plus" for 4 years her life is pure ****. She doesn't care and has a crummy job and guess whatshe still lives at home surprise surprise when you are treated like a kid you dont want to grow up.
My other cousin who is the same age turned out totally different. She was a screw up in high school and barely got a diploma. Yet when she turned 18 her father told her that he would pay for college but she needed to "get the **** out of his house". So she did. It was a tough 4 years of her essentially having no money but now that she graduated her will to succeed is massive. She just finished her masters in psycology at NYU, got married, had a kid and is definately on the right track.
This brings me to my situation. Being that I am a hypocrite I want as much independence as possible while also having some money. Right now I have it easy. I have a great paying job that will by the end of the summer have given me just enough money to finish paying off my car and insurance for the next year but for college I have 2 options.
I can either go away to U.of Tampa ($17k + room&board /year) or Baruch CityHonestly Baruch College here in NYC ($7k/year). Both are great for what I want to do but both would give me vastly different living situations. Tampa would afford me the typical college dorm lifestyle which would be great and I think I would enjoy it very much. But it costs alot and a chunk of the $$$ would have to come from my pocket leaving me with no money because my awesomely well paying job is sitting in NJ. On the other hand I could go to Baruch and live in NYC. The tuition is cheap enough that my father has agreed to pick up the entire tab for me leaving me with pleanty of money. However, there is no way in hell that I will be living in my house. My house is a 2 family with a fully separate apartment attached. Would living in an apartment be enough to help be live on my own and avoid the temptation to go upstairs and have my parents take care of everything? Only time will tell.
