{"id":1745,"date":"2011-12-07T11:28:40","date_gmt":"2011-12-07T19:28:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/?p=1745"},"modified":"2011-12-07T11:28:40","modified_gmt":"2011-12-07T19:28:40","slug":"open-space-all-or-nothing-approach-to-college-doesnt-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/2011\/12\/07\/open-space-all-or-nothing-approach-to-college-doesnt-work\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Space: All-or-nothing approach to college doesn’t work"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bored, lethargic, forgetful, and unsure of one\u2019s direction in life: these aren\u2019t the things most people imagine when they sign up for college. Hollywood portrayals of sex, drugs, booze, and epic misadventures in college are totally misleading: the majority of student life comprises reading, writing, and studying, or the procrastination of all three. Most people are out of shape, running late, and in a constant state of general anxiety because the workload is unreasonably heavy.<\/p>\n

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(Graphic by Jessica Tai)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The effects of stress on the body are highly documented. People under a lot of stress often suffer from an elevated heart rate, insomnia, chronic headaches, indigestion, and neck and back pain. The hormones secreted during stress cause unnecessary long-term wear and tear on the body.<\/p>\n

The mental side effects of stress can be even more detrimental to students: forgetfulness, low productivity, lack of creativity, lethargy, and confusion can be reactions to stress.<\/p>\n

As the semester progresses, it nosedives into a pathetic race just to hand in anything that passes for satisfactory work by the due date. The goal is to get things done, not to actually explore ideas or be passionate about learning.<\/p>\n

This kind of schooling teaches students how to produce mediocre work quickly. Taking on this amount of work in the \u201creal world\u201d would never make sense: most people under this much pressure end up submitting unsatisfactory end products.<\/p>\n

Some students have now given up on the notion of quality of life. We\u2019re often irritable, and we don\u2019t often have time to talk about the day-to-day things that happen outside our bubble; student life leaves little room for celebration, hobbies, cooking, or non-student relationships.<\/p>\n

To be fair, there\u2019s been a resurgence of the slow-food movement, and there\u2019s definitely a place for yoga and meditation in our culture, but they\u2019re still niche. These activities emphasize the importance of technique and the journey along the way, not just the end goal.<\/p>\n

Colleges and universities end up teaching the opposite. There\u2019s a mentality that if a person\u2019s not willing to \u201cgive it all up\u201d for something then they don\u2019t want it badly enough.<\/p>\n

Students are required to live in a way that will never be expected of them in the future, just as proof that they are worthy of an education.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, this method detracts from many students\u2019 learning experience, and doesn\u2019t serve any practical purpose in the long run.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bored, lethargic, forgetful, and unsure of one\u2019s direction in life: these aren\u2019t the things most people imagine when they sign up for college. Hollywood portrayals of sex, drugs, booze, and epic misadventures in college are totally misleading: the majority of student life comprises reading, writing, and studying, or the procrastination of all three. Most people […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1746,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1745","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-views","category-december-7-2011"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t