The Fear of Failure in College

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SOCIALIZATION ANXIETY ATTACKS

• It may be hard to make friends, not necessarily because of your age. Well, okay, that too, but because you may not have much in common with your young cohorts. You could be spouting off about the new Medicare plan that congress is debating, and your fellow comrades will only be interested in the latest pop CD release. The good news is that nearly one-fourth of all college students will be age 30 and over by 2010*. Nontraditional college students tend to flock together like Feral Rock Pigeons on an acid-ruined building. Moral support has been an unscientific–dreamt up by Hart & Company–determining factor. Both of you can share notes the new Medicare plan or your killer Roth IRA accounts. But be careful, nontraditional students probably know as much as you do.

• Other things you have to worry about, college kids are not as open-minded and tolerant as you might think. If you’ve been communicating with only your neighbors for the past 10 years, and you both vote Republican, you might want to avoid sharing your personal views with your classmates. Sure, some college kids believe in drugs, partying and slacking off, but anyone who thinks differently than they do–as in the real world–they might be censored or shunned. Granted, most likely you will think differently than they do because you are from a different generation. If you are in a group setting or even in the classroom, share your opinion at your own risk.

* Table 172. Total fall enrollment in degree-granting institutions, by attendance status, age, and sex: Selected years, 1970 through 2014 – U.S. Dept. of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Higher Education General Information Survey (HEGIS).