Leaving the Nest

Senior year; heavily studying for tests, waiting for college acceptance letters, visiting college campuses. The stress only escalates as the deadlines begin to approach. Most importantly, as the year comes to an end, seniors are getting ready to finally leave the nest. The childish days are over meaning it is time to move on to adulthood. College is not your average “going back to school” year, it is an independent departure leading to the real world.

Essentially parents are proud that their child will be starting a new chapter to pursue a college education, however, not all parents are accepting to allow their child to study away from home. There are many factors that contribute to this state of mind such as; culture, religion, socioeconomic status or emotional instability. In addition, this transition can be negatively viewed through many lenses. Culture plays a major role when dealing with a persons coming of age. For example, in the American culture it is common to hear about someone’s son or daughter going away for college or leaving home to be independent, in comparison to other cultures where daughters are only allowed to leave home if they are engaged and sons are encouraged to work hard so they can support their family when the time comes.

These standards that certain cultures input on these young adults is a cause as to why they prefer to not further their education. Yet, when they do decide to go to college they are limited to attend a college that is within the same city. What these cultures lack in understanding is that deciding on a college is not simply about location it is also necessary to consider cost, majors offered, class size, etc. A similar view is from specific religions where they believe that worshiping their god is more important than pursuing a career. Even though going to college is preferred by some to be far from home it is not always possible due to financial situations. This is an understandable justification because nowadays there are many young adults who have serious debt issues because of the education they chose.

We interviewed Carly Dunn about her thoughts on starting this new chapter next fall at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota. In her case the biggest issue was concerning tuition. As of 2013-14 the cost to attend is $58,149 which is why her parents’ were hesitant about choosing that school. Her dad was more lenient and Carleton, but mom was leaning towards other options. After they came to an agreement, they decided Carleton would be the best college where their daughter would be able to learn better and interact with the professors. Even though she would be more than 1,000 miles away, they know she is in a great academic environment where she is on the road to accomplish her dreams of becoming a writer. From the Beachcomber we congratulate all the students entering this fall.