Thoughts on college

Framingham State University, my alma mater, was just on the news because apparently they are trying to ban strong fragrances, perfumes, cigarettes, and strong smelling cleaning products from campus.  This caused me to wonder whether this would have applied to my second roommate's multiple air-fresheners which I would always wake up to her spraying in the early hours of the morning.  She was of the opinion that I produced a displeasing odor.  At first, I was super embarrassed at the thought and did everything I could to perhaps rid myself of any unpleasantness including showering multiple times a day, washing my clothings and sheets twice a week, and spraying everything I touched in the room with Febreeze.  Unfortunately, none of my efforts had any effect and I continued to myself gagging every time I walked into my room from the over abundance of "air freshening" smells.   Maybe those would be part of this crazy new ban as well?  I get it; many people are super sensitive to particular scents and fragrances but banning them entirely from a college campus?  Is that really the only answer to this particular problem?

Although I would never take back my experiences in college, I sometimes wonder if paying exorbitant amounts of money of four years is really necessary for being a customer service representative at a call center or having a full time job entering data into a computer.  Sadly, that's where myself and many of friends have found themselves having graduated only a couple of years ago.  We're some of the lucky ones as we attended a state college at vastly cheaper rates than many of our neighboring Ivy League schools in the Boston area.  However, there are times when I hear people go on about the importance of attaining a college degree and I seriously reconsider whether it was worth the expense.  College, in no way, prepared me to answer phone calls from people having difficultly with credit cards.   I was trained as a teacher which I had heard was supposed to be a field that would not suffer in an economic downtown.  I wasn't told that in order to attain one of those jobs I would need to move to an entirely different part of the country.   Whether Massachusetts is in need of teachers or not, they are spending copious amounts of time laying teachers off rather than hiring new ones.  

The majority of my friends some who, like me, earned their degrees in Education and others who earned degrees in English, Psychology, Sociology, and Political Science have found ourselves working jobs that used to be for those who earned a high school diploma.  In fact, a number of my coworkers were unable to go to college for various reasons and are far more competent in aspects of my job than I am.  Maybe I would've been better off saving myself and my parents a lot of money at least when it came to preparing me for the working world.    I don't really see how college improves our job prospects at all.   However, living on a small campus alongside many others my age taught me invaluable life lessons I may never have learned otherwise.  Or I might have learned them in a far less enjoyable way.  College for me was totally worth all of the friends, the late nights, the cramming, and the setbacks along the way and I try to remember those times when I get discouraged about the other stuff.  I think if I had to choose again, I would pay for those experiences (at the state school rates of course; I feel for those who left college with $75-S100,000 in debt).  

So I'm not entirely sure what my opinion is on the subject.  Maybe when the economy rebounds I will earn more than those who did not earn a college degree but I'm not so sure.  I am pretty confident; however, that no matter where I decide to go next, it will require my to go back to school and attain some type of Masters degree.  I feel like, at this rate, our children are all going to need doctorates to stay competitive in their working environments.  All I can do right now though is look fondly back on my memories thinking of all the amazing people I met as a result and hope that things will turn around for everyone,.