by Adeola I., Staff Writer I am a sophomore at UTC, meaning I have completed one and a half years of my college education, and I am still struggling to figure out what I want to do with the rest of my life. As you can imagine, this is a daunting task.
When does the “real world” start? In high school, I was told you enter the “real world” when you graduate. In college, sometimes, I am told that you enter the “real world” when you graduate. Life is similar to riding a bicycle. High school is when you get on the bike with training wheels and your mom or dad is holding onto you and the bike the whole time. College is when your parents let go of you and you're on your own, riding a bicycle with two training wheels attached. Once you let go of the training wheels, that is you attaining your bachelor's degree. Whatever comes next is the real world, whether you choose to pursue a higher degree, or begin work in a career. It is almost as if life does not count until you've accomplished something, like attaining a degree or job. That brings up the question, when do children become adults? In high school, there were times certain teachers would call students young adults, but most of the time we were referred to as kids. In Western civilization,entry into adulthood is identified by a number: age. Adulthood is not based upon whether one has mastered a certain skillset, learned how to relate and interact with others appropriately, or demonstrated great responsibility and maturity. For some time now, society has known that the frontal lobe of the brain does not complete development until a person is in his or her mid-twenties. The frontal lobe is the area of the brain that is the center of decision making, judgment, planning, etc. Yet, so many people are forced to make these life deciding decisions at such a young age. Wouldn’t it be nice if the higher education system had more of a focus on experiential learning and students were more exposed to actually finding out what careers there are out there for them? So many of us live life on a timeline. The average American timeline consists of working to the point of stress in school, then in a career, and ends with a small fraction of time saved for retirement. Why do we live life this way? Keep your helmets on tight, this is going to be a strenuous and hopefully rewarding bicycle ride.
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December 2018
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