Your college experience

[AzuriteCat]

I actually enjoy college WAY MORE than school. The school, in my opinion, manufactures students. Those who aced all their tests just because they memorize those things well are merely grade A products (excuse my bluntness). Grade A products that are being pet on their head for being 'intelligent'.
ANYWAY....I like how college mostly allow us freedom to learn things our own way. Not always by the book. And I especially enjoy my programming subject. At least my ideas won't go to waste, just like that.

I'm still in college, by the way.

 

[Windbag]

I see some old threads about college and what everyone thinks about it, but I'm interested in thy experience in it.

How was it at first? And at last? Did you make any good friends, or just met a bunch of assholes? Did you failed many tests, did you party, did you stay at home, did you enjoy it, did you hate it?

I absolutely loved university. I think I loved everything about it. I went to one of Ontario's better universities, so that may have been a factor. I studied history, which was easy and pointless, so it was basically four years of wandering through life while being a precious, unique, eccentric snowflake.

This thread is of full of people who are bitter about their faculty, but I can say without hesitation that almost all of my profs were smarter or much smarter than me, so I took their criticisms to heart. The same cannot be said for the TAs, with some of whom I fought bitter battles.

I had great intuitive friends who were my roommates: we had fantastic technical and philosophic debates all the damn time. I had a steady girlfriend (I'm still married to her) so I didn't chase skirts.

I hardly went to class. I built speaker systems and amplifiers. I read science fiction. I watched endless movies and played Half-life and Starcraft constantly. I staggered to class drunk. I went to debates and lectures unconnected to my courses.

I ditched Christianity. I came from an intensely religious environment, and the only smart people I'd ever met were Christians of the C.S. Lewis type.

I discovered Rammstein and Dream Theater, and Bach's organ works.

I steeped myself in human history, with all its genocide, deprivation, disease and unspeakable cruelty. I described history to my INFP friend as the marks left on the dungeon walls from the inmates.

I fell in love with technology. All my friends were in science and engineering - and looking back, I should have been, too.

 

[mu is mu]

I initially attended college because of a financial obligation--the state would pay for my tuition. But I didn't attend college until a year after graduating high school, at which time I went to a huge university and loathed many, many things about college in general. I attended a community college for five semesters afterwards, and then returned to my initial university and have attended three consecutive semesters there since.

My first few years in college were aggravating because of my refusal to acknowledge any value in the school system and the fact that most of the general education classes seemed almost completely irrelevant to me--I constantly felt that I was pursuing a goal that someone else was imposing on me, not a goal that I had established for myself. Nor did I have a good sense of direction or a good understanding of what my interests and strengths were.

Four years after beginning college, all of my general education courses have been completed and I have a much better grasp of my strengths and interests. Consequently, I've been thoroughly enjoying the classes I'm currently taking.

I've made very few friends in my college career with no regret so far. I have never attended, nor will I ever attend, what some people refer to as a party. And for some reason I've only encountered one NT classmate in my entire college career--SJs abound, along with the occasional SP.

I have not abandoned my Christian beliefs, in contrast to the apostate experience that some people undergo upon beginning college. If anything, my faith has been bolstered in ways, and for reasons, that I never would have anticipated, although I've become very critical of much of contemporary Christianity in this country, if there is such a thing. Additionally, the naively optimistic outlook I once had of humanity has disappeared.

I would say that the turning point in my college career occurred when I realized my potential and independently researched careers to an extensive degree. When I finally realized that college could have value for me, my perspective and output in school completely changed.

My advice to other INTPs who are beginning college is this: The case is very likely that much of what you've heard about college is reasoning created by SJs for SJs, not NTs for NTs. If you have doubt about what your strengths and interests are, then take the time to discover them instead of unquestioningly obeying societal pressure to begin (and finish) college immediately after high school. It may take years for you to attain a self-understanding great enough to warrant a commitment as serious as pursuing a four-year degree. We have been reared in a world that is mostly oblivious of the NT type along with its needs and strengths, and thus SJs and SPs have a huge head-start on young NTs with regard to self-understanding.

 

[sushi]

college is a training ground for corporate slave job, at least thats the case here. Go learn some hard skills that can help you survive in the real world and catch your interests.

 

[xbox]

da best 12 yrs of my life

 

[dark+matters]

I cannot begin to describe the loathing I feel for both colleges I have attended/am attending. *opens mouth to try to explain but implodes instead* lol But then again, I am very cranky today. My opinion may change after spring break when I've had a chance to cool off.

I get into a lot of quarrels with certain types of authority figures and lately I have had issues with peers as well. I generally get along fine in a casual setting or a small group, but a gigantic, broken, corrupt, out-of-date, restrictive institution like my college is something awful to endure. There are literally no online classes I've been eligible to take so far. This is unacceptable. (Yet my college is supposed to be one of the better ones according to the Princeton Review and stuff... it is a lie! I suspect that my college just has more people who are more desperate to be good little cogs in a broken system. For me, college is still a really janky way to have to learn otherwise interesting things.)

In those brief moments that I can get over my emotional distress from having to attend my overcrowded campus almost every day, I really enjoy the depth and quality of the material we're forced to learn. Dunno if others have had these sorts of college experiences. Everyone in this thread seems to have had an okay time at college.

 

[Ex-User (9086)]

College was a paradise compared to the real life that ensued.

All the disagreements, problems with inefficient methodology were a trifle.
I see many young people unable to appreciate the three to five years of freedom to pursue what they like.
Academia however problematic just requires passing exams, the rest is up to oneself.

Overall I have fond memories of it.

 

[Yellow]

I worked 2-3 jobs, took an average of 1.5-2x what was considered "full time" credits each term (earning a science degree). I went months on end without a day off. I was hospitalized because I pushed my body past the breaking point from lack of sleep, overdose of stimulants, and dehydration. It was still one of the most fun and liberating times of my life.

But then, I went to an inner-city university. No one was there for the "college experience". We were there to earn a few degrees and move on with our lives. I went my whole time without knowing the mascot or the name of a single organization. We were a collection of students and professors just focusing on education and research.

 

[Lot]

Thought I was smarter than I was. I failed 3 out of my first 4 classes. Which lead to me quitting World of Warcraft. That first semester was rough, but I had fun.

Started smoking a pipe. Made friends with the smokers. Preached Christian doctrine to people. Was generally awkward, but mostly liked.

Become obsessed with the philosophy taught by the main philosophy teacher. Started going to the philosophy club, which was used as a recruiting ground for the christian cult lead by said philosophy teacher.

I changed my major constantly. First wanted to become a pastor, then a philosophy teacher, then social worker, then a musician, then philosophy teacher, then musician. I took way more classes than I needed to get my basic degree. I'm actually 30 credits away from a BA.

I failed pre college math twice. I didn't pass the entrance exam for math and had to take a lesser class. Eventually I passed all my math classes, when teachers took the pressure off and worked with me to actually understand math. I had mostly given up on math in grade school. Teachers were too pushy with me, and didn't explain to me why I was wrong. That and I didn't do home work.

I eventually joined the philosophy christian cult thing, and my mental health got worse and worse. Had a long fit of delusions about people around me. I should have listened to my instincts lol. I was actually experiencing depression for the first time in my life. More delusions, porn addiction, self hate, anxiety, then complete lose of motivation and purpose in life.

I dropped out after getting half way through a jazz improve class and couldn't handle the constant anxiety attacks before class. I did finish my Geology class, though. My room mate was pissed at me for scoring higher than him on the tests and only studying right before the exam.

I eventually applied for my Associates in Art, after two years of being a bum, and got my degree. Five or so years of community college to get my 2 year degree. I could add to this if I ever get the motivation to go back and get my BA/BS

 

[A_Scanner_Darkly]

For starters, I want to say that for two years I attended one of the most prestigious schools in the country; however, I was a transfer from a community college.

My first year, I tended to meet people who were quite talented in one way or another, but were just too gossipy -- I guess what I would call "society people." I was invited to be friends with these people, but after spending some time with them I realized I felt very uncomfortable with their style of socializing and their general outlook.

My second year, I did meet a great group of people who were into discussing abstract, intellectual topics. I consider that most of these people were about ten times smarter than me, and so there was always something new to learn from them. Although there was usually some undercurrent of vying for intellectual superiority, overall it was a positive experience for me because we were all egalitarian in outlook.

Aside from meeting these friends and a few other perks...I rather hated it. I felt like the school was trying to hijack my intellectual autonomy. I felt like they were trying to indoctrinate me with their left-wing ideology. I felt like I didn't have a voice. I felt like class discussions consisted of nothing more than nodding along to the professor, or if I actually felt like speaking, underpinning or embellishing his/her argument. So much of my education was political indoctrination and not any true discussion or exploration of concepts.

For crying out loud, I honestly feel like I've gotten more in the way of true knowledge out of internet forums than my university courses. If it weren't for forums, I'd probably still be an idiot who only knows to regurgitate the ideas people in authority have spoon-fed him.

Mind you, I was in humanities; although, one issue I did have with the several science classes I took was not really having the freedom to develop and explore my own interpretations of the material and methodologies for solving problems. I did it anyway (for example, in General Chem), and it was immeasurably more fun than just copying the professor, but it would cost me an A in class.

I managed to piss a lot of my professors off, or just make them feel kinda insecure or sad if they weren't the aggressive sort. I didn't mean for this to happen, it was just my kneejerk reaction to feeling like they were trying to override my intellectual autonomy and innate creativity. I would always improve my behavior after seeing their reactions.