College Life

I remember going off to college, looking forward to experiencing life's great adventures on my own. I was excited about living life independently -- doing things my own way without constant supervision and critique. It was a time for celebration for both me and my family. My parents were happy to see me stepping out into the world to further my education and begin the journey into adulthood. I was happy to get away from parental constraint while learning and experiencing new things.

That is why I have a hard time understanding the college experience today. I don't look at it as right or wrong. I just don't understand.

As the child goes off to school, the parents cry as though they were going off to war. Many of the students go off to school without the slightest idea how to take care of themselves. Apparently, they have never had to cook, clean, wash clothes or do anything else that is required of a person who wants to live independently.

I recall going to a store where the clerks were required to fold clothes before bagging them. I was with friends, standing in a barely-moving line. The line was long and slow because the teen behind the counter was having a great deal of difficulty folding the clothes. Finally, as I stood watching him try to fold my clothes, I really had to restrain myself from just telling him to let me fold them myself.

After leaving the store, I asked my friends how folding clothes could be such a difficult task. One of my friends said that the clerk didn't know how to fold clothes because no one ever taught him. She said her sons didn't know how either. She never let them wash or fold clothes because she wanted them to keep needing her.

This concept was so foreign to me that I found it hard to mentally digest. My parents constantly told us that they were raising us to be independent, so that we would be able to do things for ourselves if they were not around. My friend's logic seemed like a sad and pitiful, selfish way to keep a person dependent. It feels to me like a needy way to be needed. I made no further comment, though.

Now we come to the college experience of today's young students. Because so many students have no concept of how to perform routine activities of daily living, enterprising young scholars with entrepreneurial spirits have started up businesses that make beds, clean and straighten rooms and wash clothes for their chore-challenged counterparts. The parents pay the fees for these services.

Bravo for the business-minded young people who see this as an opportunity to make money. For those helpless students who cannot take care of themselves, I can only just shake my head and sigh.

I just don't understand.