Why isn't the rest of my life like college?

When you were in college you also likely had:
no real income
no real house
no food save your college meal plan
a crappy car if you had one at all.

There’s absolutely nothing stopping you from going back to that. If you’re willing to live in a crappy college apartment again, live off ramen and beer, and take the bus a lot, then go for it. Give up your career job, get a far less structured-time job like McDonald’s, and enjoy life.

@MrItty It’s funny how the mind works. I didnt remember any of that. Yet, to this day I refuse to eat ramen. So it was all true. :)

You paid to live in an environment of (mostly) diverse thought and experience.

Generally, the world of work is about minimizing diversity to improve efficiency. Also, now maybe you have debts or at the very least bills to take care of. So does everyone else. That sort of limits everyone’s capacity (or their perception of their capacity) for entertainment, diversion and spontaneity.

Maybe you should work for a university.

There comes a time in life that that your momma does not want her nipple in your mouth any more.

Maybe paying such little attention to college resulted in landing a shitty job, so going back seems like a pretty good idea.

You can still be a Toys R Us kid at heart and random social interaction should always be a part of your life. You have to be serious about work, especially if you hope to have children some day, but if you let the job kidnap the child inside, you are doing a disservice to yourself.

College is an insulated, non-real environment,. It is a time apart. You have all the benefits of being a grown-up with none of the responsibilities.

@ChazMaz I’m far from complaining, I just don’t see why we as a society are so puckered up. Why don’t we talk to strangers? Why don’t we share a drink with our fellow man? Is it because we always have something to do?

Maybe we should take a breath to smell the roses.

@frdelrosario Graduated with a 3.5. I could have done better, but it wouldn’t have made much difference. I am getting my MBA now… I love what I do, I truly do. Working in IT gives my mind a way to solve problems that does not allow my brain to atrophy. I make very good money, and I love the people I work with. I can’t ask for anything more.

I feel that there may also be a negitive stigma that goes along with someone who takes advantage of the social pleasures college has to offer. You can do well in school and still have an amazing time. I never missed a class, not one. I was late to many, fell asleep during a few, but I did my work first… and I played later.

@mowens – I am with you on that one. :-)

Start your own business and you can once again experience that joy of not knowing what every day is going to hold!

mike needs a hug :(

hahaha I’m not complaining!!!! I am simply saying it would be nice if people didn’t lose that as we got older!

I’ve found as I’ve gotten older that it helps keep some of that feeling of freedom by planning times to be spontaneous. Sounds a bit backward but it works. We have bills and families depending on us now so I like to plan ‘free weekends’ or just a quick trip out of town. Fill up the car with gas and see how far you get. No satnav, no plans no reservations. Just go and see what’s out there.

Keeps the wanderlust at bay for me.

OMG, there’s so much ahead… new experiences, new people, exciting new challenges you can’t possibly imagine now. Four years out of college is really a little early to feel like you’re not going anywhere, no matter how boring your job may be. Life unfolds.

Yea…. Wait till your first wife screws you over..

Ok, ok… Just kidding. :-)

I think I may have come across the wrong way.

I love my life and I love my job. There is nothing I would have done differently looking back. I’m simply saying that as we grow older, it seems we get less outgoing and accepting of new ideas.

“as we grow older, it seems we get less outgoing and accepting of new ideas.”

So true. It is called old age. It is what happens when you run out of piss and vinegar.

Untrue. I’m about to turn 67, the concept of which seems wholly unreal to me. I have lots of juice. And I do talk to people on the street, in the boring grocery line, and so on. Also, strangers smile at me because I walk around amusing myself so irresistibly with my own reflections that I laugh out loud, or at least smile, and I think people think I’m smiling at them – fools that they are.

I couldn’t agree with you more. I’ve been out of college for 2 years and counting now and I miss it and am thinking about going back for a while.

Another thing I miss about college that is in line w/ what you are saying is that people in college were pretty laid back, cool, helpful, and genuine. In the working world, this may be true of folks working for the government, but in the corporate world where everyone is fighting to get ahead it is very hard to meet anyone that isn’t completely self-absorbed. Everyone I’ve worked with in the last 2 years has had a clear agenda, and it always involves making money at almost any expense.

In my years of working in “the real world”, I have been surrounded by people decades older than me – have you also experienced this? There are very few people my age working in my old industry, and the ones that are are boring.

I very much agree that it would be nice if people were more open to having random conversations and exchanging ideas. I actually think it has something to do with human nature, because when I travel alone to very foreign places I am much more outgoing and I do meet a lot of interesting new people whereas when I’m home I’m not outgoing and don’t meet anyone interesting. It is definitely a two way street. I have also found that misery loves company: If I go on a tough hike to get somewhere and others are doing the same thing, we all become friends because we share this experience in common, and the interest in this hike in common.

@mowens I miss it too. My girlfriends and I from school have a fantasy of all living in the same building when we are retired and capturing that old dorm feeling but in a better lifestyle, with resort style pool and palm trees. My husband and I make an effort to always know our neighbors and we hang out with them somewhat, but it is not like college. Some parts of the country are better than others.

Being in school forever sounds like hell to me.

@MrItty /agree