Tag: Stereotypes

Corrected Stereotypes About “The” College Experience

Corrected Stereotypes About “The” College Experience

 

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As a first generation student, I had no idea what to expect about college. Other than seeing things in movies and TV shows about college, I had no real idea if those portrayed visions of college were actually true, or excessively overdone. To be honest, as a senior in high school, I had only toured 3 campuses and had some sort of idea of what the college life was like, but I knew that the tours were meant to show everything great about the school and that I would not really understand what it would be like to be in the shoes of an actual student unless I was one.


I cannot speak for other universities and colleges about student life, whether or not they have similar stereotypes as Loyola University. With that being said, (disclaimer) I am writing through my own experiences as a first-generation student and a commuter student. I will use the list of college stereotypes found from The Odyessey site for reference.

  1. College students party all night every day.    Not really. Loyola students, for the most part, are dedicated in taking intensive courses that requires a considerable amount of time to study, complete projects, and seek out help through study groups and professor office hours. Loyola also does not have sorority/fraternity houses either, which typically most “college parties” are known to be hosted at. From personal experience with the people I hang around, we like to have potlucks and if possible, go downtown to eat at places like Vapiano’s.       1175103_10152271707204988_457462033_n
  2. College students like to sleep all the time. Okay…this might be true, but I can explain myself! Many of the students I know are either trying to finish their bachelors in less time, are in CAS (College of Arts and Science), and/or are taking a lot of credits in one semester. Either way, it can be exhausting and classes may require a lot of time and dedication for homework, group projects, papers, etc. For commuters like me, we also have to allot time to get to campus and time to go home. Coffee is like fuel for the system for most students and I can vouch for that. Although it does caffeinate students with energy, it wears us out. Understandably, students will get exhausted from a day’s worth of assignments and responsibilities, thus sleep is highly praised!           12079239_519745684860836_4668180633158826215_n
  3. College kids eat so unhealthy. Not exactly… it’s hard to say depending on what “unhealthy” means! There are some of us in different parts of the spectrum. Some of us like to experiment with cooking (since they have a kitchen in the dorms) and do a decent job of eating well, some of us eat dining hall food which is has a variety of healthy food (since it is buffet style, it is up to YOU to pick the right portions of foods to eat!), and finally there are those students (like me) who forget to eat and don’t get enough nutrition.                                                                                                         StudentEatingSlide
  4. They’re all in sororities/fraternities Not everyone. Out of everyone I know, maybe half of them are in some sort of sorority or fraternity. I’m not in a fraternity because I do not have enough time to participate. But as far as I know, there are fraternities and sororities for all sorts of people, based off of similar ethnicity or career paths.  There’s a good chance that you’ll fit into one of the groups.                                                                                                                                             16640816_1662899367057228_1549667248400611234_n
  5. All college kids wear sweats to class.  Better than wearing nothing. To be honest, I do see a lot of people wear sweats around campus, whether it is LUC logo-imprinted pants or their own. Especially among students who live on campus or very near campus, they might be more likely to wear sweatpants than commuters do (like me). I think that it really does not matter what people wear in school that makes a difference…as long as people are clothed and get an education, things are good!                                                                                                                                                      images