Narrative Essay about Personal College Experience

Having lived in the same state, city, and house my whole life, moving to college was a drastic change for me. Adjusting to a new environment and living conditions took time.  After completing the first month of college, I look back and see how the “college experience” is truly unique. How students act and interact with each other on a daily basis differs from what I had previously experienced in middle and high school. Introduction to sociology has helped me to see my ethnocentric views, how college can be seen through the lens of Symbolic Interactionism, how college can be seen through the lens of Structural Functionalism, and how the culture is distinctive.

As someone who has lived by the beach their whole life, deciding to go to college in the mountains was a tough decision to make. I have always had the ability to surf and enjoy the beach all year long. When applying to colleges I sent applications to various coastal colleges that were no more than 10 minutes from the beach in the likes of Florida and North Carolina. However, it was Virginia Tech’s notable alumni program and overall highly rated academics that convinced me to attend Virginia Tech. When I first arrived for welcome week the change in environment hadn’t fully set in yet, however, once classes started, I experienced a bit of culture shock (Intro. To Soc. 2e).  I was feeling homesick, and I no longer had the opportunity to do the thing that I loved the most, surfing. So, I had a large degree of ethnocentrism (Intro. To Soc. 2e) since I was harshly judging Virginia Tech by the standards that I was used to at my home. However, once I understood my views and how bias my judgment of Virginia Tech was, I took a more cultural relativism (Intro. To Soc. 2e) perspective. Instead of comparing Virginia Tech with the standards that I was used to, I decided to embrace the numerous opportunities available to me in college.

Thinking through the lens of sociology has also allowed me to understand how a symbolic interactionist might view college. They would see how differently students are viewed depending on how they do (lumenlearning.com). For example, if a student does poorly on an exam they will be viewed as a “poor student” and alternately if a student aces their exam they will be seen as an “excellent student” with great potential. Each action a college student makes and how they are viewed based off those actions can be analyzed by the symbolic interactionist approach. 

Furthermore, it is also possible to view college through the lens of structural functionalism. By observing college through the relationships, roles, and norms that together form a society (brittanica.com) we are actively looking through the lens of structural functionalism. A sociologist would assess how important the roles of professors, students, administrators, food staff, etc. play on creating the university experience. Each role has a very important part in keeping a college functioning properly, which is why there is a strong emphasis on the individual. Also, if you think how Max Weber (Intro. To Soc. 2e) would view college you could point at his iron cage theory (Intro. To Soc. 2e). A student attending college might feel the societal pressure of staying in college even if they feel like its not for them. College is a great example of how numerous complex systems (Wikipedia.org) work together to create the mechanism for millions of students to learn.

The total culture of college is entirely exclusive. There aren’t any other places where students from all around the world come to live and learn for years on end.  The way students interact with each other is also special. There is a feeling that we are all in the same boat and are willing to help anyone struggling or in need of help. Since we have all adapted similar norms, we are able to relate from our experiences, which brings us closer than in the “real world.”