NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY
This morning we had a good breakfast at The Flying Biscuit, a campus eatery that is usually packed. And then Caroline showed us where she had gone to class and hung out, although most of her hanging out was in libraries and study areas.
I could see where she studied but not get a sense of what she studied except that the designations of the brick buildings had very daunting titles such as Nuclear engineering. But what struck me most was the difference between NC State and Warren Wilson College where I taught for 40 years. NC State is huge with over 35,000 students and stretches so far in every direction that students need a shuttle bus to go from class to class. Caroline was most impressed by the student union on her preliminary visit to NC State. It is enormous with restaurant after restaurant, coffee shop after coffee shop,all of them on the student meal plan. There were all kinds of student club rooms and study rooms. And across the street from it is an equally huge five story gym with all kinds of facilities for working out in various ways. We could see students through the glass exterior working out.
Warren Wilson is like a little country club with facilities appropriate for 750 students. There are forest trails and tennis courts and a swimming pool. Students coming to a four year college are coming to learn in the classroom but also are there to have a great social and cultural experience. To attract students every college makes living there as attractive as possible. When I first went to Warren Wilson tuition was $1000 a year and students worked on campus work crews for room and board. Now the tuition is closer to $30,000 and students get heavily in debt in order to attend. NC State is a state school with the costs for the giant gym and huge student center covered partly by taxes, but it still costs $25,000 a year and many students in burdened with debt when they leave.
The college experience is a combination of academic learning and a rich social life. Caroline missed out on much of the rich social life because of Covid.
But as she was showing us the wonders of NC State and all of the expensive facilities I was struck by how different the experience of going to university is in New Delhi, India or Hannover, Germany where there isn’t the same rich social life or the variety of sports teams.
I have mixed feelings about all the expense and all the offerings. For those who can afford it and don’t have to work an exhausting second job in order to help pay the bills (which is hard to do at Warren Wilson) the college years are a rite of passage from childhood to adulthood, a transition from family life to developing independence and being responsible for yourself. This development of being independent continues through life in the United States with these college years playing a big part. Obviously, Caroline’s academic load and desire to excel meant that she had less time for social life and Covid cut out even much of this rich college experience.
But it was good to see how she had lived for four years and to share a little of her experience.
She didn’t live in a dorm. Visiting her apartment where she lived with three other women seemed very sumptuous. They shared a huge, comfortable living room with kitchen facilities and each of them had a small bedroom and study room with individual bathrooms. In the basement was a designated parking space.
No wonder the college years are years that so many American adults look back on as being the freeest and most fun years of their lives. Caroline showed us her class ring, a sign of her attachment to her time at NC State.
BILLYBABA’S WANDERING 