College students today don’t have it easy

We can all relate to our elders, whomever they may be, constantly reminding us how good college students have it easy and that we should be thankful for the chance to get an education.

They may be partially right, but they are not grasping the bigger picture. When our grandparents say that we should be thankful for our education, they probably mean the chance to get one. Since the 1950’s, there are more minorities and women in higher education than ever before, which is looking up from America’s racist and sexist past.

But at the same time, how lucky are we really? More likely than not, college has changed significantly since they were our age. The college culture is a lot different now, and in order to succeed, students are required to push themselves to the limit just to do the bare minimum required to stay afloat.

The way faculty perceives us, which in some cases can help our grade, now relies on how many activities we can put on our co-curricular sheet.

Although it is crucial to make our time at Nicholls count by joining at least one student organization that sparks our interest, it can be difficult to do it all if we are spread too thin.

Many students make it work, somehow, some way, and they probably could not tell you how they do it themselves. However, something has got to give! Either academics suffer while involvement in student organizations excel, or academics excel while involvement in student organizations decline. It seems as though we can only choose one with the exception of a few superhuman students.

Finding jobs after college is also an issue students have to worry about that may not have been as difficult back in the day.

When only a select few went to college, a degree definitely held its weight when it came to applying for jobs, but it most certainly does not seem as such in the present competitive job market. A larger portion of the population than ever before have a college degree. When applying for jobs, we need to set ourselves apart from the other 20 candidates that have the same piece of paper we do.

Internships are a must when it comes to getting future jobs because experience in the field holds more weight than the degree itself, which just adds to the unending list of things that college students need to worry about besides school itself.

The access to higher education may be better than it was 60 years ago, but students do not necessarily have it as good as the older generations think we do, and they will probably never understand what we go through on a daily basis just to get a degree.

However, we should be thankful for the opportunities presented while trying to avoid sinking in the sea of possibilities that is Nicholls State University.