The Career College Student (They Just Love College)

I have a cousin that once spent ten years in college. Well, it wasn't that long exactly, but he stayed in the college town for that many years. He couldn't figure out what he wanted to pursue, so he kept changing his major. He changed it so much that he made a career out of it. However, as we all know, unstable careers always come to an end. His college career ended with a lack of money and no degree to show off. He eventually ended up moving back to wherever he came from and getting a job in a nice cozy grocery store. I'm lying. I don't know where he works, but that doesn't matter. The point is there are some people that love college so much they find ways to make careers out of going.

No one in this (so called) messed up economy is really unemployed. Well all have a hustle. Some people work in these big fancy pharmacies, some work in big fancy banks, some teach at big fancy schools, some write long fancy books, some hold up big fancy signs on the street and big for money so their bills can be paid, some are entrepreneurs pursuing whatever they think will get them the American dream, and some spend their days in classrooms waiting for their next assignment. I call that last group of people career college students, because they essentially make college their careers.

He's Thinking About The Next Degree He'll Get

They're not teaching anyone. Instead they're constantly thinking of what they can major in next or what they next level of degree is. A PhD is nothing to them. A was recently talking to an older guy about the extra scary and stressful real world and he started talking about the extra scary and stressful college experience. He went on and on about his teachers (I'm exaggerating a little bit) and then started talking about what he wants to do once college is over. His over all goal was more college. Seriously, he started talking about whether he should extend his current experience to a double major and get two masters degrees or whether he should graduate and get his PhD next. 

It was such an odd conversation to me, because as far back as I can remember colleges have never paid for you to stay at them. They've never paid your bills, so you could get a higher education either. Loans and grants are like trifling men. They only last for so long, before you get tired of the games that come along with them. 

There are games. Loans make you think you have just enough to get you by (kind of like food stamps until you realize they won't pay for your favorite food). The game is when the loan people want their money back. The career college student usually figures out this game when they can't apply for any more loans (or when some college says "we've seen enough of you now here's your degree so you can get the hell away from us"). Grants are the same, except they just stop coming to you. You don't have to worry about paying them back, but at the same time the people that give them to you forget you five seconds later. 

This game is a dangerous game too, because you need real world experience when you get into the real world. An example is Lynn on "Girlfriends." She was the one with 20+ years of college experience, 50 degrees, and a whole lot of talent, but no job. Well, she did eventually get a job as a waitress, but it had nothing to do with any of her degrees. In fact, I really don't know why any of her degrees were never put to use on the show. Wait, that's just a show but in the real world no one cares about your 50degrees. They want to know what you can actually do and reading a text book just doesn't fit the job description. They waitress knows how to do more than that. 

However, career college students don't care about the real world. They major in whatever they want and take their education extra seriously. Don't ask them when they'll graduate, because they never want to. Someone once said make a career out of what you love. Well these career oriented people love college a whole lot. I don't quite understand it, but then again there are many people who don't understand my passion for writing.