Joey, my former boss & colleague, describes college as a place of “hyper community,” one that sets up unrealistic expectations for how the world will work once you’re out.  It takes a while to transition out of that world into the reality of adult life, trying to forge new friendships with co-workers and neighbors and professional communities when you aren’t glued together by pressure-cooker academic stress.

I think one of the strongest arguments for shifting to a year-round model for school (calm down – you’d still get all the same weeks of summer break; they’re just spread out more) is that a year-round approach would soften the blow of adulthood, where making a living  consumes the vast majority of your time, energy, and attention.

The LA Times ran this delightful essay from a father about his 23 year old daughter. Enjoy the dose of realism, kids! Graduation season is over! 😉

American colleges. If theres a more troubling and decadent place to shred 200 grand, please text me the exact address.

I am a man of tiny doubts and strong opinions. I think Broadway shows are bloated, phony and overwrought. I think supermarket cheeses are tasteless replicas of real cheese. I think Elvis is the poor mans Jesus.

And I wonder now, on the anniversary of my daughter’s graduation, whether I let her down, didnt counterbalance all the hedonism of college with more practical fatherly advice, didnt prepare her sufficiently for the transition between Camelot and 50 weeks of office work a year, no more summers off.

via One year after college graduation, a degree of reality – Los Angeles Times.