Deciding to go to college is a difficult decision for many young people and their parents. Where should you go to college? Why should you go to college? What should you study? How can you pay for your college experience? Today, more than ever before, students are also asking whether or not attendance in a university setting is worth it. Why not just do all your coursework online? It will be less expensive and more convenient to attend college courses online. Many reasons exist, however, for physical attendance at a college or university. A college education will teach you many things beyond academics. Consider the following reasons for attending college or university:
Learning to live with others is a lesson you will not learn through an online college.
In today’s world, many young people have not had the experience of sharing a room with someone else. In a university setting, you often have at least one roommate. College attendance will teach you how to live with other people. Who will clean the room? How will you share the space of a dorm room or apartment? You can learn valuable coping and people skills by having roommates.
You will encounter people who are not like you.
Attendance at a university provides you with opportunities to meet people who are different from you. They will have different backgrounds, different economic situations. Religious and political beliefs may differ from yours. You will meet people from different countries and cultures. You will have the great advantage of expanding your understanding of the world around you through the people you meet at college. Attendance at the physical campus, instead of just online, gives you opportunities outside the classroom setting to learn from new people about their ideas and cultures.
How will you react when faced with new opinions and ideas?
It is very easy to adopt the ideas and belief system of people we are surrounded with. College attendance will expose you to new ideas and new beliefs. How will you react to these new ideas? Will you explore them? What if they conflict with your ideas? Can you learn something from beliefs other than yours? Will you learn to respect those whose ideas are different from yours? College is a great place to learn how to do this.
Do you know how to handle responsibilities?
When you leave home to attend university or college you will not have your parents to help manage your life. You have to assume responsibility for your own life. Here are a few examples of these responsibilities:
- Scheduling - You must learn to schedule your time and to follow your schedule. Do you have time for that party, or do you need to be studying for the exam? Your mom is not there to tell you when to study, or when to go to bed; you must learn to deal with schedules on your own.
- Deadlines - When is that paper due? Which day is the final exam? At what time does that assignment need to be turned in? You are responsible for keeping track and meeting all these deadlines!
- Laundry - Yes, you are responsible for doing your laundry. Do you know how? If you stay home and take online courses your mother can continue doing laundry for you, but at some time you need to grow up and do your wash!
- Bills - Have you ever had to pay bills before? Do you know what happens when you are late with a credit card payment? Going away to college often means learning to pay your bills. And pay them on time!
You will also learn how to manage your own personal and moral responsibility.
Going away to college requires personal and moral responsibility and accountability. Whose moral
code will you choose? Do you accept responsibility for your actions? Your parents are not on-site with you to tell you how to live or how to act; what will you use as your moral compass or guide? What are your grounding principles for life? Facing these questions on your own can provide you with a great growing experience.
Even though doing your college degree through online coursework may be more cost-effective, it may also deprive you of many valuable experiences and learning opportunities. The full college experience goes far beyond academic learning to encompass broadened awareness of the world around you and personal growth and development.