College demographics

Hmm.. more thoughts on college while I'm on a roll.

I went to coffee on Wed night w/a colleague, and she happened to provide me with some insight regarding the demographics of Penn State college kids. "What you have here, are white, middle-class kids from Pennsylvania. They live in the suburbs and in towns. They love sports, beer, and football." I'm glad she said that because it's been something I've bitched about a lot, but never really had a pinpoint definition or phrase for it.

I sorta remember writing about class differences a while ago, but through review of my own blog I didn't really find anything. So here goes (sorry if you have to read this all over again). My personal opinion on class isn't really about money, but rather they way one carries oneself. You could be really rich, but trashy like Paris Hilton. Or, you could have just enough to live, but carry yourself with dignity and modesty. Yea, I'm sure money has to play a part in it, because the affluent have more money to go for fine dining, attend cocktails etc. which allows the youth of that "social class" to be exposed to more demure behaviour. Go figure the cause & effect.

I bitched to Marc about being sick and tired of kids who rattle on about football statistics, like how many rush/pass yards this one team has, what the completion percentage is for a particular QB. But then he threw it back at me and goes "But we rattle on about 0-100km/h stats for cars, horsepower, handling and weight distribution."

So I guess it boils down to rattling on about diff things. I like electronic music, films, european cars, art, clothing, shoes. College kids like radio music, football, marijuana, frat parties. Well, Penn State college kids that is. A friend visited over the weekend from NY, and her boyfriend who goes to MIT came along too. Both of them agreed that they can't believe I go to school here because... it's not ME. (But here I am.) And at MIT/Wellesley the party scene is very different. Not so meat-head-y, and you can apparently strike up an intellectual conversation at a party. (Which I've yet to find here.)

Which leads me to think, are my peers from high school enjoying college more than I am, because they're in a more intellectual environment? (Most of them are in Ivy Leagues. Or the good schools in England.) I'm not trying to say that I'm really smart or anything, but I did go to a school that was really challenging, academically, and the kids were smart. (My lifestyle didn't really reflect it, though.) So maybe I was used to just talking about more things other than sports and "how hard classes are" and .... THE WEATHER. And arriving here was a sudden damper in the flow of those things.

Someone mentioned to me that she hated her freshman year at Penn State. I was frankly quite surprised, thinking that she was a PSU lover. I guess I assumed wrongly. She hated it because she did "college" things, just for the sake of doing them. She'd drink a lot because everyone else was doing it, and then hate the hangovers but still continue. Then she'd tell her parents she was having a good time and really liking college just because that was what people told their parents, and she didn't wanna be a whiner or something.

It's nice to know that there are people who don't enjoy it here too. Not because I hate it, and want more anger towards school, but just to know that someone sorta understands. I don't think college culture will change though. It's been this way since ..... 1855. (That's the date my school was established. Kids here love the quote: "Having more fun than you since 1855." You weren't born back then, dumbass.)

I actually do feel bad when writing stuff like that, about differences and whatnot. It sounds kinda condescending doesn't it? But my friend Hannah says that's what a blog is for. So here it is. Deal with it.