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> I would be interested to hear from people both younger than me and older than me on this one. I'd particularly like to hear from Howard. Is this just something you naturally start thinking and it's just your imagination? ("And another thing, back when I was your age, I was OLDER!") I don't think it can be entirely imaginary, though.
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> Brunnen-"believe it or not, that was the shortened version"G

It's not often I get a direct invitation to spout off about something, so I guess I should take full advantage of it.

The truth is that I wasn't a typical student when I enrolled in Middle Tennessee State College (now a university) as a freshman. I was astounded at how immature most of the freshmen were. At the time I was 20 and most of them were 18, which is not much of a difference in age, but it seemed like it then. I had the advantage of having spent a year in a boarding school, and I knew how to take care of myself.

I compared the new freshmen to the kids in my class in high school, which was an unusually mature group. Many of them were Jewish, and were ready to become a part of the family business. There was no comparison between them and those college freshmen, who for the most part, had never spent a night away from Mama. Most of the kids in my dorm had no idea how to do laundry, or any of those dull day-to-day chores. About half of them disappeared after the first quarter ended. My theory is that they were there only their because their parents insisted that they go to college. So they flunked out.

Drugs were less of a problem in those days, but I remember seeing an 18-year-old lying in the grass in front of the dorm, dead drunk. Many of them had no idea how to act without instructions from their parents.

The "GI's" were another matter. These were military veterans who were attending college on the G.I. bill. They were usually about 21 or 22 when they started, and could be easily spotted because they had a car. They didn't need a job, and could afford new books instead of threadbare used ones. I guess they earned it.

When I started college, my parents were broke. I had $140 saved up, and by the Christmas break, I had found a part-time job. I worked my way through. My four-year degree took five years because I had to take a light load to keep working. I went summer and winter, with no summer breaks.

I was never a serious student in high school and my family was astounded when I started college. When I graduated, they were beyond astoundment. I finished with a degree, a wife and son, and a 1953 Packard, but no debts. I also had no money.

So I guess I started college better prepared than I thought. Most of my freshman classmates dropped out and became soldiers, factory workers, clerks etc. I became a teacher, which didn't pay as well as factory work, but it wasn't boring and in those days, it was safer than being in the military.

One thing students miss out on now is the struggle to get through. They have the responsibility of making the grades, but usually don't have to worry about where the next meal comes from. If you work and go to school at the same time, classes are only a small part of the education you get. But I don't think some of today's college students could handle that.

And that is *my* shortened version.
Howard