Modern Student Culture

The development of the modern student culture has gradually slowed down.  Most all teenagers have conformed to the stereotypes of how a typical college student is portrayed.  Although there are a few who oppose the modern culture, it is inevitable that they too will fall victim to the current student stereotypes to some degree.  Without change the more truth is bestowed upon these stereotypes. Will Deresiewicz of Yale University and Mark Edmundson of University of Virginia discuss the present day student culture based on their experiences and opinion.

 Will Deresiewicz explains that at Yale University, extracurricular activities are the center of the student’s lives.  He continues the say that by letting extracurricular activities take over their lives, students are expressing what they want to learn rather than what they are required to learn to help them get a job in the workforce.  I agree that extracurricular activities look great on a resume and teach you life lessons that are not taught in a classroom. At Chapman University, extracurricular activities are a large part of its small community, but not the center of its student’s lives.  The major focus at Chapman is getting a degree and education.  A little bit of both extracurricular activities and school is the best combination on a resume.  Jobs are not hiring the students who get the best grades, but they are looking for the student who has the best overall character.  Extracurricular activities should not outweigh school or vice versa. I don’t believe that the students are expressing what they want to learn they are just trying to better overall person and do hobbies they enjoy. Extracurricular activities are an enormous time commitment, and that can seem like they are over involved in their given activity.

 Mark Edmundson discusses that the most influential source of technology is the computer and house it has made, smarter, restless, and impatient students.  They are restless and impatient because their drug of choice is a quadruple latte and their hangout of choice is Starbucks.  Computers are obviously very influential on today’s society.  Anyone can do almost anything on it, or find any information on it. The endless amount of information on the Internet has made a smarter generation of students. It is has become part of our modern student’s culture.  At Chapman, you wouldn’t be able to take a course without a computer or the Internet.  Every teacher uses the Internet to some degree whether I t be, blackboard, blogging, sending emails, or just typing papers.  We have evolved from registering for classes on paper, to doing over the Internet.  For the most part at Chapman, there are always those few students who bring their laptops to class to take notes.  Will Deresiewicz says that at Yale University, he never sees his students bring their laptops to class and if the did he would tell them to put it away immediately.  Starbucks and coffee are definitely a large part of student culture. A boost of caffeine is the trick to staying up late to study or do a paper.  It even helps the next morning when your exhausted sitting in class.  Some students these days are literally addicted to coffee or Starbucks.  They can’t go a day without it or they get headaches or go crazy.  Starbucks and the computer are nothing new to society.  They are typical things teenagers and college things use or go to on a daily basis. 

Mark Edmundson introduces his term, monoculture.  He wants to studies to correct what he is saying or tell him to get a new pair of glasses.  Students need to present some counter culture to the discussions and question the teacher.  College students relatively say and write what the teacher want to hear.  They don’t really present new ideas to the table but just go with the flow. Will Deresiewicz  believes we have become a monoculture because socialism and modernistic aethisicism are gone.  No one wants to write against modern societies views because we all want to make it.  We all want to become rich and famous.            If we don’t present opposition the wont be change to the culture.  We need to be the Socrates of modern day society and question what is going on and what we are learning.  We need to take it upon ourselves to introduce our own change.