According to Statista, there were about 18.99 million college students in America in 2020. Despite such high enrollments, debates persist on whether going to college is worth it. Apart from the financial reward of attending college, there are multiple reasons why going to college is valuable. Discover 10 compelling reasons why college can change your life.
1. Experience New Cultures
Unlike elementary and high school, college attracts students from all over the country and sometimes international students. The stunning diversity of the student body makes college a melting point of cultures. For example, if you have only predominantly interacted with people from your race, you can interact with people from diverse racial backgrounds. Even your diet can change: today, you try takeout from a Chinese restaurant, tomorrow Mexican tacos, and the other day, Nigerian rice.
Experiencing new cultures can widen your worldview and help you appreciate different perspectives on life. It can help you appreciate your own background and gain a profound respect for other cultures. Meeting people with different ways of doing life will challenge your adaptability skills, and you may become a more flexible person in the future. You can also gain language proficiency when you hear native speakers communicate.
One of the compelling reasons for college in terms of experiencing new cultures is embracing cultural awareness. So much of the hatred in the modern world is because people don’t understand people who are different from them. Sometimes you need to interact with people from other cultures to break down the stereotypes that you have formed over time.
2. Find a Romantic Partner
A study by Facebook analysts found that 28% of couples surveyed went to the same college. Think about it: Most people join college as young adults, then spend about three to five years of their most productive years with the same people. In college, you can find people who share similar beliefs to you. Even if you don’t start dating in college, the friendships you forge can last a lifetime, and thus, you can feel more comfortable around someone you know in college.
In college, you can join different clubs and organizations. For example, you can join an environmental or human rights group if you are oriented toward activism. There you can meet people with shared interests. Shared interests are a big strength for any marriage because you can do things together. Shared memories can also form a culture of doing things such as giving each other annual flowers.
Besides, the college offers compelling reasons to interact with others authentically. Unlike later in life, when people have different jobs, in college, people can be authentic and interact without pretense. Thus, engaging with someone who could become a romantic partner can be great.
3. Have Your Own Place
Most people never live alone until they go to college. While this can be a scary reality, it can also be a leap of growth. You can enjoy the freedom of living alone or with friends with the same convictions. The best part is you can decorate the space as you have always wanted without fear of disapproval from your loved ones. You can hit the local furniture store and get that study you’ve always fancied.
At college age, most people want to get from the wraps of their parents and experience life on their own. There are compelling reasons to go to college—even if it’s not far from home. You can start discovering yourself and your personality when it comes to space; maybe you’ve always been a minimalist but never got a chance to express yourself because you were still living with your parents.
Having your own place will also give you an appreciation for money and resources. When you are home, you don’t have to worry about electricity bills, food, and cleaning up because someone reminds you or does it for you. However, college stretches you because you have to consider bills even if your parents support you financially. You may have to consider working part-time to afford and maintain your place.
4. Be Independent
Having your place is only part of the equation. Becoming independent in every aspect is one of the most compelling reasons to go to college. Even if your parents have trained you to be independent from a young age, going away to college will help you put these lessons into practice. Since adulthood will require you to be an independent person who can handle problems confidently, going to college offers a soft landing.
Once you go to college, you’ll have no one to remind you to clean up, eat your greens, floss daily, or save. You must build skills such as integrity and self-control that will be helpful once you are older. Some people find the newly found freedom exhilarating but soon learn that freedom comes with responsibility. The day you learn to balance freedom and responsibility, you are on your way to becoming a young, independent, and responsible adult.
A common theme once you go to college is looking for employment. You can work as a car audio installer, assistant, taxi driver, etc. The trick is to find something that makes it worth your while without disrupting learning. Earning your own money will help you become self-reliant and responsible for the resources you have.
5. Prepare For a Great Future
A few people are lucky to stop education at high school and end up having a fantastic future worth emulating. Some famous actors, such as James Spader, Anne Hathaway, and Tom Hanks, either didn’t go to college or dropped out. However, most people must go to college to create a future for themselves. Education equips them with the right skills, attitude, and confidence to carve out a worthwhile life.
One of the most compelling reasons going to college helps you change your life is opening opportunities for careers with a sustainable salary. On average, college graduates earn better and work fewer hours. For example, according to the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics, people with a college degree earned an average of $1305 per week in 2020, while those with a high school diploma earned only $781. In a career lifetime, the difference in earnings is tremendously huge.
Not only will college help you earn more, but you can also live a happier and more fulfilling life. With a higher salary, you can afford to engage home insurance companies, buy a vehicle and take your children to school. You are also equipped with knowledge that can make your future better. For example, most schools have mandatory classes on health and investing, which can help you make better decisions for your life.
6. Learn a New Skill
One of the most compelling reasons people go to college is to learn in-depth about a field. For example, you can go to college to learn about accounting. Yet nothing will stop you from learning another skill, for example, coding. In the end, you can be a tech-savvy accountant. Not all your daytime hours will go to classwork, so you can spend this time learning valuable skills such as installing a wood floor.
Your new skill can expose you to a new group of friends and even open you up to a new career direction. For example, if you are studying social work but are interested in storytelling, you can learn feature writing. Later in life, you can combine your social work background and feature writing skills to become a non-profit grant writer.
When you skip college or drop out, you may be so occupied you never learn a new skill. College exposes you to vast knowledge stored in physical and digital libraries. That means you can learn new things on your own, such as gardening, coding, woodwork, and data analytics.
7. Learn Hard Lessons
Some of the most resilient individuals have gone through college, which taught them hard lessons. One of the hardest lessons one can learn in life is failure. If you fail a college exam, it will teach you about failure and resilience. Similarly, it would be best to learn to manage time between social activities, academic and personal relationships in college.
College is one of the best places to learn hard lessons because it is a supportive environment. For example, you can access mentors, counselors, and even lecturers. Besides, you will interact with people from all over the world who have experience in multiple areas. For example, a roommate can teach you a hard lesson on home mold removal that will help you forever.
Learning hard lessons is also one of the most compelling reasons to go to college because of growth opportunities. If you continuously fail to manage time wisely as an employee, you could get fired. However, in college, the consequences are not so dire, but they are effective in changing your life.
8. Network With Other Professionals
A saying goes: ‘your network is your net worth.’ Have you ever tried scheduling time with a sought out professional? If they don’t know you, they will likely treat you like everybody else and make you wait. The reverse is true: your classmates, lecturers, and college staff are people you develop authentic relationships with for a long time. A lecturer will find it easy to recommend you a sports therapist fellowship because they have known you.
Apart from preparing you for career life, networking with other professionals is possibly one of the other compelling reasons for college. You get to meet people who could influence your life and make lasting changes. A meeting with a senior recruiter can give you insights into what goes on in an interview.
Other professionals also change how you think. For example, if you have a practical approach to solving problems, they can challenge you to think about another approach. For others, going to college is a prelude to joining prestigious associations such as the American Association of Dentists.
9. Find Your Passion
Some people already know what they want to do with their life even before completing a high school diploma. For others, a pre-college year helps them crystallize what their passion is. Even if you enrol in an academic program, other college activities, such as sports, can reveal your true passion.
In college, you are exposed to multiple career options, such as being an editor, attorney or social worker. Most colleges offer the option of transferring courses. So, even if you enrol in a program and discover your passion later, you can still make a change without affecting your academics.
The people you interact with can also shape how you think about your passion. For example, if you enrolled in a program for engineering and then have a roommate taking computer science, it can shape your passion for coding. The college offers an opportunity to fan your passion into a career.
10. Learn About the World
Going to high school will expose you to some fundamentals about our world, but college might blow your mind. You can choose a field that interests you the most and then set roots for a career in that direction. For example, if you are interested in sustainable architecture, immerse yourself in that field and discover the latest in solar shingles, biophilic design, and energy efficiency. Others experience newfound ambitions in world history and technology while in college.
Learning about the world goes beyond your career and specialization. You’ll have multiple opportunities to attend interdisciplinary seminars and conferences. You’ll also learn about the world from the people you interact with your lecturers, guest speakers, and even fellow students.
To bring it all together, college is worth it because it can change your life in multiple ways. On average, people who attend college earn more than those who don’t. However, there are other compelling reasons why college is good for you, especially in the way it enriches the quality of your social life. Hopefully, you found a compelling reason to attend college — even if it is not the easiest thing in the world.
