Just How Did You manage To Get Into College?

[princess4life]

I used to catch people going thru my laundry at the laundromat. On multiple times I would actually catch guys taking my underwar or bras When confronted they would either just walk away or say they thought that they where looking through there girlfriends laundry. I would just tell them to get a life and grow up.

[boringscreenname]

We actually had people stealing people's entire laundry from the laundry room. Kinda weird to answer your door and have an RA ask to search the place because all of someone's laundry has been stolen.

[FuzzyKitten99]

just as a personal observation - I've noticed that people who pay for their education themselves tend to take it much more seriously. I apologize if this is obvious, but in all honesty I have a lot more respect for students at the local community college that are working two jobs to pay for classes as they go than I do for the ones that have it handed to them and squander it.

You are totally correct. My kids won't be getting their college paid by mom & dad. We might help with books and basic supplies, but the education itself is up to them.

My husband's 3 older cousins had/have their school paid by mom and dad, and all of them are still taking classes-at almost 30 years old. One is a teacher, so it is kind of a requirement, but the other two are neither doctors, lawyers, or teachers, so the need to go to school for 10+ years is beyond my comprehension, other than the desire to avoid the reality of the working world for as long as possible.

[LifeCarnie]

I'd like to point out, that my Dad died at 14 and my mom was a junky, so I did not learn the following from my parents and maybe some of these students aren't so much dumb, as they are not lucky enough to have any type of parenting in their lives:

-How to Drive - I'm self taught.

-How to Sew

-How to do laundry - This one is was tough, since it took the effort to read the washing instructions on the clothing tags and also the directions on the detergent bottle. That's too much reading for some college students.

-How to make a bed without form fitting sheets - The teach you how to do this in military bootcamp.

Seriously, they do, since most people only know how to make a bed with a fitted bottom sheet.

-How to iron - I'm self taught on this too and I still don't know if I do it correctly, because I really suck at it.

-How to Shave - Another area I'm self taught in and don't really excel at.

-How to balance a check book- I've pretty much figured it out.

Hey Greenday, ever found your wet clothes on top of the dryer while someone else used up your drying time to dry their clothes? Yeah.

Yes. And, I'd have liked to beat the person or people responsible.

Nothing beats the smell mildewy clothes!!

[Inker]

just as a personal observation - I've noticed that people who pay for their education themselves tend to take it much more seriously. I apologize if this is obvious, but in all honesty I have a lot more respect for students at the local community college that are working two jobs to pay for classes as they go than I do for the ones that have it handed to them and squander it.

I never asked for my parents to pay for my tuition, they just did. Since neither one of them went to college, I think they really wanted my brother and I to go. However, all extra expenses (car, food, phone, clothes, etc) fell on my shoulders.

Fortunately, my parents also insisted that I have a job from the time I was 13, and they taught me how to do laundry and clean up after myself.

Now that I'm going back for a second degree, and paying for it myself, I will probably make sure I go to more classes than I did when I was 19, but I have no guilt over being lucky enough to have my first degree paid for by my parents. I think the problem is more the parents who do EVERYTHING for their kids, and don't teach them to be grateful for what they're receiving, or to be independent from them at all.

[edicius]

We actually had people stealing people's entire laundry from the laundry room. Kinda weird to answer your door and have an RA ask to search the place because all of someone's laundry has been stolen.

That actually happened here on campus a couple months back. Some girl had $2,000+ worth of clothes stolen from a dryer in one of the dorms in the middle of the night. Apparently there were multiple pairs of $100+ jeans in there.

A) $100 jeans?! The hell?
B) If I did have clothes costing that much, I'd be sitting next to the washer and dryer reading a book for the entire duration.

I'll reiterate the topic title...how did she manage to get into college? Yeesh.

[platypus]

Since I was 15 I have worked in the collegiate arena - starting as a part time temp in the bookstore to currently working as full time faculty at a small university. I have seen or been told almost everything, though I am sure there is still quite a bit that would shock me. Here are a few highlights:

1.) Students who don't understand that parking tickets, credit cards, tuition bills, etc aren't payed by the magic payment fairy something has to happen to get your money into our account

2.) Roommate who left a used menstrual pad on her BED assuming the non existent maid would take care of everything; roommate who didn't take a shower until the fourth week of school because her mother told her a shower was ineffective for cleaning the body; mother who drove three hours twice a weak to clean her son's dorm room; mother who chewed me out because her daughter was pregnant - um mam? I'm an innie not an outtie - it doesn't work that way.

3.) Parents who call about: failing grades, hurt feelings, a boyfriend and girlfriend enrolled in my class who are just too young to date so can I tell them to break up, class times, class difficulty, why it's okay to swear at me in class, the horror of discussing evolution in a social science course, why sex shouldn't be covered in a senior level HUMAN DEVELOPMENT class, the emotional devastation of a "C," my age and how I'm too young to teach their special pookie, why there AD/HD spoiled snot can't possible be expected to sit through a lecture (AD/HD? Me two but I also have a PhD - so letters don't mean so much do they?) and anything I might do to hurt the self esteem or general future of their poor, poor babies

4.) Plagiarism in every single possible form. If 3/4 of your paper is word for word from Wikipedia it is still plagiarized, even if you listed Wikipedia in your bibliography. By the way, thanks for making it easier to find out why your paper sounded better then most psych articles

5.) All the fracktards who think your the first to sneak a cat into the dorm. A special place in hell for the boys who abandoned Snotter in east LA even after I told you my parents would take him.

6.) Cheap idiots who remove my clothes to use the time on the washer/dryer so they have more money; slackers who ask for my office supplies because you forgot, and no the university doesn't buy them; adult students who are used to simply paying for a service - its college, you want to pass, show up and do the work like everyone else

Sorry for the minor thread jack - I could go on but this is Customers Suck not College students suck. By the way my parents helped with roughly 80% of college /graduate expenses for my brother and I but I've worked most of my life and never took them for granted. I was never raised in wealth, but my parents believed as I do - if you have it to share why not? After all, by the time your kids are 18 you should have taught them how not to be spoiled self entitled snot heads

[LifeCarnie]

Don't do what a friend of mine did with his wet underwear at college and dry it in the microwave - he melted the elastic in his underpants!

Microwave users are in themselves a wholly separate class of stupid.

[Primer]

I never asked for my parents to pay for my tuition, they just did. However, all extra expenses (car, food, phone, clothes, etc) fell on my shoulders.

My mother an I had an unspoken agreement that as long as I stayed in school AND was progressing, that she would help out with books and tuition, and the occasional emergency expense. Day to day living expenses were my own responsibility, and if I dropped out, I'd be completely on my own.

Since I was 15 I have worked in the collegiate arena - starting as a part time temp in the bookstore to currently working as full time faculty at a small university. I have seen or been told almost everything, though I am sure there is still quite a bit that would shock me. Here are a few highlights:

3.) Parents who call about: failing grades, hurt feelings, a boyfriend and girlfriend enrolled in my class who are just too young to date so can I tell them to break up, class times, class difficulty, why it's okay to swear at me in class, the emotional devastation of a "C," why there AD/HD spoiled snot can't possible be expected to sit through a lecture, and anything I might do to hurt the self esteem or general future of their poor, poor babies

6.) slackers who ask for my office supplies because you forgot, and no the university doesn't buy them;

Platypus, after 20+ years as a professor, I don't think there's anything more that could shock me. Thank goodness FERPA laws forbid me from discussing "pweshious" with the parents. They need to talk with the kids themselves.

I am still amazed at the essays I get from students after grades have been posted about why they did not feel they earned the F they received, and how they will have to go back to <insert country> if I don't change their grade. Too bad, so sad; you should have thought about that 16 weeks ago at the beginning of the semester.

I also do have available pencils and paper for those who just can't seem to remember to bring their own, but I get them for free/cheap at expos and yard sales. No, you can't use lack of supplies as an excuse.

[Saydrah]

Well, my roommate when I first moved out was pretty bad. He and I were both in college although at different schools, so it counts.

-Wiped boogers on the wall because he was lying down and didn't want to get up to get a tissue. Later realized that they turn into glue when dried, so never cleaned them off.

-We had an agreement when he moved in with me that, since he worked nights and I worked days, he would take my dog out once per day. In exchange, I paid a greater share of the rent for the first several months. Did he meet this obligation? Certainly not. He slept all day, and when the dog finally had to go and did so on the floor, he put a cardboard box on it to cover it up, rather than clean.

-Brought over a girlfriend who called my pet rats 'glorified snake chow' and stole my new shoes. Denied that she stole my new shoes despite proof in the form of her OLD shoes where my new shoes had been!

-Parents bought me some expensive mocha flavored granola bars. The next morning, the entire stash was gone and the box was left, EMPTY, in the cabinet. Box of 15 granola bars. One night.

-Left his wallet on the floor while I was at work. Demanded I buy him a new wallet when my three month old puppy chewed it. I suggested he shove it in his rear end and learn to pick up his crap with a dog around. Amusingly, I bought him the wallet in the first place.

-Threatened to move out (despite his name on the lease) and stick me with the full rent if I made him pay for his own groceries.

-Complained that my dog appeared with a pair of my panties in his mouth, stolen from the laundry hamper, while he and his girlfriend were having sex. Apparently the sight of my underwear caused Shoe Stealer to have suspicions about his fidelity. Hello, he is LIVING WITH A FEMALE ROOMIE, underwear MAY BE PRESENT IN THE APARTMENT. Does he expect I go commando for her comfort?

-Did not buy groceries for the first three months he lived with me- lived off fast food and whatever he could poach from my food.

-Did not pay rent on time, giving the excuse, "Gas comes first so I can keep getting to work." Uh, ever heard of a BUDGET? That's when you DON'T buy your girlfriend $100 of clothes and video games every month if that expenditure means you can't pay your rent.

-Moved back in with Mommy after our lease expired, because cooking for himself, doing his own laundry, and cleaning up after himself was just "So not worth it!"

[TryNotToBeThatOne]

I handle the lost & found in my building at this lovely university. I'm truly amazed by how many cell phones, text books, clothes (are they walking around undressed? You'd someone would notice), checks, wallets, checkbooks, id (that is your meal pass/funds & possibly a VISA CARD) that get turned in. That's not even mentioning all the ones that get reported. Sometimes, hey, your wallet fell out of your pocket. Sometimes, you're an idiot.

When students, etc come to ask if their *item* has been turned in, if I don't have it, I get contact info & an item description. That way, if that pair of tennis shoes show up, I can let you know that I have them.

Currently in found (recent additions, not those things that have been here > 2 months): bike helmet, baseball cap, 2 sweaters, 1 jacket, 1 pair of gloves, 3 textbooks & 4 notebooks, 1 social security card, 1 id card, 3 rings, and a bracelet.

My record is been 48 items in one month.

[Igorina]

In college, I lived in a dorm that had a number of international students. For some of these international students this was their first time away from home, and their servants.

Lessons in how to use the microwave, and washer/dryer ensued.

Then there was the one girl who managed to grow mold in her coffee. She also let her dirty dishes pile up in the kitchen sink shared by 4 other females. When the dorm's janitorial service would try to clean the kitchen, her dishes would be in the way, so they bagged up her dishes and held them ransom.

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

I admit I didn't stay in the dorms during college, but being on my own now I can handle cooking, dishes, laundry, buying groceries. I always kind of thought these were skills anyone over the age of 18 should be able to handle.

I see I am sorely mistaken and now I must fear for society.

[blas]

These stories just bring back bad memories of my former roomate.

Now he was a spoiled rotten late in life only child. However, when I first met him, he lived with 3 other guys and he kept his room neat and tidy. The second we moved in and he got a new girlfriend, he immediately forgot how to clean and became a huge slob and careless freak.

Hell, it doesn't suprise me that kids these days can't do anything for themselves. A lot of parents suck.

I've had to do my own laundry since I was like 12. I've had to have a job since freshman year (age 14). I was pushed to move out and be on my own ASAP and I was forced off my parents' insurance as soon as I could get my own. I will not be given a penny for college. While I think that part is a wee bit harsh (considering little brother is going to have his entire tuition paid for and that's not fair), the rest of it made good sense. There's some stuff kids need to learn to do on their own.

[PorkChop]

Military dorm living

After high school, I joined the Air Force. After graduating basic training, I went on to tech school to learn my job. I lived in a building with more than 100 females! The stories I am reading here remind me of the dormitories. You would think that military dorms would be more orderly than college dorms. Um, nope!!!

Laundry would get stolen.
Wet clothes on the machines.
Clean clothes scattered all over the floor.
Yes, even in the military there were sheltered females would didn't know how to do friggin laundry. I don't know how they got through basic training. Oh, their uniforms looked like shit because they didn't know how to iron.

Oh my God, the drama was so bad!!! Oh yeah, we had the building slut. Who would sleep with any guy. She got busted by the Red Rope (the top female of the building, under the MTL or Military Training Leader) when she snuck in a male into her room. She was later discharged for getting pregnant, for failure to train. Females in training status should not get pregnant.
The females would constantly yell in the hall ways at all hours of the night. Play music so loud. Make messes in the day room (where the TV is). Some females would walk down to the showers naked!
Smoking in the dorms. They though it was acceptable to have the window open and smoke with their head out.
Drinking in the dorms, so not allowed. Underage drinking bust, that was scary. Thank God, I wasn't there, I was at the base library studying.

I hated living in the dormitories! I spent as much time as I could away from that place. Military life in training status is stict, but, the same college life crap still goes on.

Now, I have an honorable discharge and using the GI Bill for school. I am going to a community college for the first two years and then transfer to the university. It is cheaper! Plus, I am generally around more mature people at the community college. I don't have to deal with dormitories while in school because I am married and I live in an apartment. To those of you who have to live the dorms, you have my sympathies....