2008 Woodie Awards
College Life
Tom Cocking
Issue date: 2/26/08 Section: Opinion
Every high school student dreams of graduating senior year and heading off to a new life in college, full of partying, meeting new people, getting a higher education, and of course no parents. Some schools have the reputation of being party schools; others have the reputation of being strictly education only.
To be honest I didn't hear much about Cal State San Marcos other than that it was really new and I could get a good education. I moved down here from South Lake Tahoe, which is a real small town, especially compared to Southern California; so needless to say, it was a bit of a culture shock.
My sister went to SDSU and it definitely had a great social atmosphere. When I moved here, I didn't get the same feeling; the city of San Marcos was no college town, to say the least. The longer I live here the more I notice that San Marcos is having trouble accepting that it is becoming a college town.
I had heard that when San Marcos was first developing, it was a retirement community and now the older population is slowly being replaced by much younger families and college students. With all the rules and laws it looks like the transition from retirement community to college town is going to be a rough one. It seems as though the City of San Marcos is trying its best to make sure this town isn't "overrun" by college students, which is starting to really get to me.
Anyone who lives in San Marcos or goes to this school knows that every year it is growing and bringing youth with it. Many like me whose home is too far to obviously live there and still attend CSUSM. So then arises the question: where do we live?
There are the dorms which can only house so many, but other than that college students have to live off campus in residential areas full of families, which is you ask me is terrifying to any adult. So we move into houses and apartments and within the month-especially where my roommates and I live-there are already complaints.
We party too much, we're up too late, there are too many cars parked outside, we're too loud, it goes on an on. The question is how do we solve this problem? I don't enjoy annoying the neighbors or making them mad, no one should, but we have no options but to live where we can, which happens to be next to families and older people. With many of the housing restrictions, it is hard to find places where you and a few roommates can live without bothering any neighbors.
I feel that many adults see college students as a problem, and yes, socially we can be at times, but we bring change. Whether it is a good change is hard to say right now, but this city will never know unless they give it a chance. All I ask is that we are accepted with open arms and that this city can find a way to balance both its old ways and its new.
To be honest I didn't hear much about Cal State San Marcos other than that it was really new and I could get a good education. I moved down here from South Lake Tahoe, which is a real small town, especially compared to Southern California; so needless to say, it was a bit of a culture shock.
My sister went to SDSU and it definitely had a great social atmosphere. When I moved here, I didn't get the same feeling; the city of San Marcos was no college town, to say the least. The longer I live here the more I notice that San Marcos is having trouble accepting that it is becoming a college town.
I had heard that when San Marcos was first developing, it was a retirement community and now the older population is slowly being replaced by much younger families and college students. With all the rules and laws it looks like the transition from retirement community to college town is going to be a rough one. It seems as though the City of San Marcos is trying its best to make sure this town isn't "overrun" by college students, which is starting to really get to me.
Anyone who lives in San Marcos or goes to this school knows that every year it is growing and bringing youth with it. Many like me whose home is too far to obviously live there and still attend CSUSM. So then arises the question: where do we live?
There are the dorms which can only house so many, but other than that college students have to live off campus in residential areas full of families, which is you ask me is terrifying to any adult. So we move into houses and apartments and within the month-especially where my roommates and I live-there are already complaints.
We party too much, we're up too late, there are too many cars parked outside, we're too loud, it goes on an on. The question is how do we solve this problem? I don't enjoy annoying the neighbors or making them mad, no one should, but we have no options but to live where we can, which happens to be next to families and older people. With many of the housing restrictions, it is hard to find places where you and a few roommates can live without bothering any neighbors.
I feel that many adults see college students as a problem, and yes, socially we can be at times, but we bring change. Whether it is a good change is hard to say right now, but this city will never know unless they give it a chance. All I ask is that we are accepted with open arms and that this city can find a way to balance both its old ways and its new.
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