I remember scrolling through YouTube when I entered grade 9 in high school. Many early YouTubers posted videos about pranks, beauty tutorials, and music video parodies. However, one type of video always caught my attention, and those videos were usually related to college life.
In these videos, YouTubers would talk about meal plans, dorm life, and making friends in college. They would vlog their daily lives, making it all look glamorous. And because of that, I was looking forward to college.
I wanted to live the life that the college YouTubers had. They would go to Starbucks every morning, chug down a venti coffee, and walk to class with friends. Then, they would study at coffee shops and purchase food from the cafeteria. I wanted all of that in my life so badly.
But when I entered post-secondary education, I began to regret it.
It’s safe to say that college wasn’t how these social media influencers or college marketing companies portrayed it. It wasn’t always fun, parties, or homecoming events. In fact, I found it stressful.
My classmates can all agree with me on this. According to statistics, 88 percent of college students reported feeling stressed about their school life. Factors contributing to this stress include exams, student loans, and competition within the school environment.
Throughout college, I noticed that I balanced a lot at once. I had to complete assignments, join extracurricular activities to network, and check my grades every so often. This cycle of tasks exhausted me more than ever.
And when it came to purchasing coffee and food, I noticed how much splurging drained a student’s wallet.
As tuition rises, more students have to work to pay off their debt. According to Statistics Canada, one in five students reported working more than 20 hours a week over a decade ago. And that number likely has grown now, as tuition in Canada increased by 4.9 percent since 2020 and 2021.
Burnout remains unaddressed by the media when it comes to college life.
According to the National Health Assessment, around 80 percent of college students reported feeling overwhelmed. Moreover, 40 percent of college students reported that it was difficult for them to function. Burnout leads to decreased physical and mental health levels, often leading to anxiety and physical pain.
Although the discussion about mental health has increased, especially on campus, we have not addressed other factors that contribute to this issue.
Besides schoolwork, assignments, exams, and part-time jobs, many students realize how social issues are exacerbated more in college. It seems that a larger divide has happened between low-income and high-income students: and it doesn’t help that students from high-income families experience more academic success than lower-income students.
What’s more, there’s systemic discrimination amongst minority populations within colleges. This can be seen when many universities continue to hire one specific population amongst their faculty even if they have a more diverse student body. As a result, students of color often feel unsafe and targeted by the institution.
We need to stop presenting college as “the best four years of your life.”
Instead, companies targeting college students and social media personnel focusing on producing college-related content should provide others with a more realistic college perspective.
We need to address issues other than academics as students can learn how to navigate and find solutions effectively. Moreover, we shouldn’t present college as four years of freedom for high schoolers. Instead, we should describe the advantages and disadvantages and give a better perspective of campus life. This way, students won’t feel alone when they find themselves in a similar situation.
No matter what, a sense of support is important for a young student navigating college. We should achieve this by conversing about the difficulties students may encounter in college. We should also give students the best ways to deal with such challenges. After all, college life isn’t perfect, but it is a learning experience. And we should portray it as such.
Photo by CDC Newsroom at Flickr
