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New rant on the perception of students
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
Hey guys
My rant has just gone up on the website. It's about how annoying people are who call student's lazy, tax-dodging hippies and how it's about time a new, fresher more accurate perception emerged. You can find it here:-
http://www.thesite.org.uk/community/reallife/rants/givestudentsachance
Hope you enjoy it!
My rant has just gone up on the website. It's about how annoying people are who call student's lazy, tax-dodging hippies and how it's about time a new, fresher more accurate perception emerged. You can find it here:-
http://www.thesite.org.uk/community/reallife/rants/givestudentsachance
Hope you enjoy it!
0
Comments
:yes:
Not many I know that put the same as a part time job into their course
I do when exams are near!
The amount of work people put in at uni comes in fits and starts. You may have one week where you go to your lectures, spend a couple of hours of reading and that's it. Other weeks you may have three essays in and put the equivalent of a 40 hour week in if not more. Workload also significantly increases in the final two years.So whilst first year may seem easy going in temrs of work, a lot of people I know knuckled down for their final two years.
It's also worth bearing in mind that the education you receive at uni isn't confined to academic matters. There's a lot of life skills to be learnt in socialising, going to socieities or having a part time job.
Only a short part of the year though :razz:
... and plenty I know did sod all for the first two years, and a bit more in the third, only really getting any work done around exam time etc.
But this isn't part of your University course though. It's just 'life'. I didn't got to uni, but managed to learn all of these things out there experiencing normal life.
Well and around when assignments are due but I do spend about 3 hours a night on other work from the lectures in the day. Next year will be worse though!
I know you're doing a tougher/more intensive degree than most and so you're likely to be the exception, rather than the rule.
What I wanted to get across in the article was that saying 'all students are x' was a stupid idea as you do get such a diverse mix of people at university. so while some students do laze about, not all do.
Not all, but the majority of people I knew had generally a very easy ride for at least the first two years, and a chunk of the third.
Thing is you can apply the argument of 'all being a stupid idea' to almost anything/any group of people really. There are always going to be a number of people that will think this, and I know people have been saying what you're saying for a long time now. It's never going to change, simply because so many students still have a very easy ride, and so people will judge as so.
You know what though, I think that is going to be a hell of a lot of effort for nigh on zero results.
Don't get me wrong, I know some people put in some hellish hours studying (especially Med students, right Go_away?), but I also know many, many more than do the polar opposite, only whinging about having "so much to do" as they've fucked around all year and then they have to cram everything into the last few weeks.
Simply put, I don't think this true light is as clearly defined as you would like to think, or make out.
When many people hear the word "student", the type of person that immediately comes to mind is someone scruffy and lazy. This is partly because of shows such as The Young Ones. Whilst that was a very funny comedy, no one can deny that it shows students in a very bad light. These ideas still exist to this day. Even nowadays, in the days of student fees and debt, many people still hold on to the old stereotypes. These are largely inaccurate, but students don't do themselves any favours in this category.
On another note, Dom seems a very sound guy.
However, thats still hugely a minority, and I feel the 'student' stereotype is largely justified when treating 'students' as one entity. Particularly at bottom-end universities, the modal grade is a 2.2, and so many people completely waste 3-4 years of university. Not pulling their weight with academics, and wasting time drinking with their group of mates the whole time rather than useful 'socialising' or networking.
If you're in the minority that make the most of your university time you'll be rewarded for it, and you'll stand out against the mass army of student loafers - let them own the negative stereotype they put on themselves.
Depends on the ones you talk to
Interesting rant though, the first one in ages that didn't make me go :rolleyes:
That's a matter of opinion! My mum got a 2.2 and whilst I don't want to say what her job is she's doing pretty well and has just got a promotion. Plus I think plenty of posters on here have got a 2.2 at uni and are very successful. So it isn't exactly a 'waste'.
My opinion generally to this topic is that laziness exists beyond the realm of university so I don't understand why the trend seems to be to solely emphasise this within the student population. The only reason I can think of is bitterness.
Good rant anywho
:yes:
My dad got a third from a *shockhorror* polytechnic (now Coventry Uni) and he's just retired from a really very well paid MD job.
A school day with eight 40 minute lessons is 5 hours 20 mins a day, which is less than 27 hours a week. That would require at least 13 hours a week actually working on homework. Not to mention that you'd need to do all that for 48 weeks a year, rather than the 40 that most schools do.
Why does socialising have to be useful? I fall between the two categories you describe - I worked hard, worked part time and in vacations in jobs that would help equip me with the skills I needed not just bar work, volunteered, helped to set up and run a new and succesful society and got my 2.1.
I also went to an ex-poly university and have secured a place on a fairly competitive graduate scheme which has nothing to so with useful 'socialising', as you put it. Quite a lot of the socialising I did was generally in the pub for quite a few hours with friends, and never mind any of the pretentious networking bollocks.
I did a 20 hour a week job, commuted 3.5-4 hours a day to uni and had about 3 articles a night to read over this last year, not to mention coursework. We only had 3 hours contact time per module (so 6 hours a week) and were expected to do 20 hours study per module per week. Admittedly I didn't do the 20 hours per module per week thing because I was knackered from my job but still, I did work very hard. Also all 3 years of my degree counted.
You can't deny that there's some truth in those stereotypes in The Young Ones, though. Take Neil, for instance. He is a self-proclaimed hippy. He's also a clinically-depressed vegetarian and environmentalist studying Peace Studies who has no friends. Sounds much like one or two members of P&D, if you ask me. I'm not even at uni yet, and I've already met countless wankers like Rick Pratt.