5 Myths I Learned in College

College is nothing but One Big Party

College is always insane. People are always drunk and getting laid. Everyone is cheating on each other and getting high.

Nope. That's what I use to think it was going to be. As a matter of fact, there are many crowds of people that are very focused on their studies and enjoy other kinds of activities besides passing out on a stranger's couch. There will always be that college party going on, but that doesn't mean that's all that college is about.

College is really about finding yourself and your path in life. So those parties may be part of it. However there are lots of people out there searching their other side.

I had friends that loved to explore food from different cultures. I had other friends that were activity trying to teach each other a new language. Some spent hours in music studios or art rooms. There's more to college than just one big party all the time.

Expensive Books

I was caught up with this for two years in college. Many years ago before E-bay and Amazon, the only way to probably find a cheaper book was to find it from another student. Now with these websites available and other websites out there it is easy to find cheap books.

At one point I would spend about $400 on books for one semester. Some students had it worse. I would also spend $90 on a book that I never read, the professor never talked about anything remotely to the book they chose, and when it came to selling it back at the end of the year, the school wouldn't take it. I found that I just dropped almost $100 on nothing. Honestly, I am not going to go back and read a dry politics book for fun.

Because of how upset I was getting at book costs I literally boycotted buying school books. Yep. I basically thought to myself that unless I really needed to learn more about the subject and if the professor was testing out of the book (but not covering it in class well) I would NOT get the book.

This isn't a very good practice to use, by the way. I only did it out of spite towards teachers who requested you to buying the most expensive, latest edition of a book no one touched!

So what did I start to do after my boycott? I went to the first day of class, listened to the teacher read over the syllabus. Normally a teacher will tell you how vital the book is and how much they are going to cover in the book. If it is a lot, then look it up online and see if there are any used copies of the book.

Another alternate method approach I took was I went up and spoke to the professor about book editions. I asked them if I could back track 1 edition to get the book for a smaller price. This has worked on multiple occasions. If I would've bought the book at the bookstore at school I would've paid $90. But I bought a USED, older edition of the book my professor said was okay, and I paid $5. That is an extreme difference. And for the record, I did great in that class.

College Dorms

Have you ever seen in movies the awesome college dorm rooms you just can't wait to get into? Well, mine were pretty bad. They were so small that the only way you could really even walk around in was if you bunked your beds.

Now I understand why they were so small, and each college is different, but they are definitely not Hollywood. I ended up getting a single dorm to myself because of the space and when my dad came to pick me up on the last day of school he said, "You were living in a closet?"

Dorms are really what you make of them. There are a lot of fun creative ways to make it exciting, but they aren't all what you see on TV.

Professors are Scary People

Well, some professors are scary. And I had a professor that liked to talk to the ceiling and sing and talk to himself as he walked down the hallway. And yes, there are the occasional jerk professors. But to be honest, overall I have really liked my professors. I may not have liked their method of teaching or their class, but they were just normal people trying to make an honest living. And yes, most of them really cared about their students.

I even had a professor tell my class he would be happy to be a reference to any of us in an upcoming job. Many of my professors still know who I am, and I only took one class with them and never visited their office yet they still say hello and can call me by name.

After the Virginia Tech shooting, one of my professors nearly broke down and told the class if we ever needed someone to talk to please come to her and she would be more than happy to talk.

I Will Become a Coffee Drinker

It hasn't happened yet. I may like the occasional cappuccino, but I have never become a coffee drinker nor even bought a coffee pot. I thought that with all the studying that I would end up drinking lots of coffee to stay up late.

I drink a can or two of soda everyday (which isn't good for me either) but I never touched coffee. My sister became a coffee drinker though, but it's not going to be for everyone.

If you aren't a coffee drinker, don't force yourself to be just to stay up.

College is a great time in any person's life. There are so many new friends to meet and so many new things to explore. With new friends, you can still spend time with your friends from high school as many times you luckily get to cross paths with them again during college.

My current college situation is that I am going to be graduating December of 2007 in Mass Communications with advertising as my emphasis. I did the dorm room scene for two years and had my own apartment for the last two. I have a one bedroom apartment to myself and an insane cat. I drive to school every day and also walk a few blocks from my parking spot to classes.

I never felt college was for me. There was nothing that I wanted to take up that interested me in college. However, now that I am almost done I am really glad that I did it. I changed a bit during that time and now that I am almost graduated I am considering taking up a few more courses later in life to expand my horizons further. If I wouldn't have went to college 4 years ago, I'd be sitting here today at square one regretting it as I watched my high school classmates getting their degrees.

It isn't for everyone, that's for sure. But the one thing to never do is, is to never just not go because you are afraid and believes in some college myths. You may come up with a few myths of your own you can pass on to others.