Jason’s father closed the trunk of his Lexus then set the last suitcase down beside the backpack and the small tin of home made cookies. Jason’s father, Clark, was a husky man who walked with a slight limp. You would never see him without a cigar in his mouth; he would pay more attention to his cigars than his wife Claire. “Now don’t get any crazy ideas Jason.” Clark said in his deep and authoritative voice. “I know what you’re probably thinking son. But now that you’re in college and away from us, don't think that you’re going to be able to do whatever the hell . . .” Claire interrupted with her perfect sense of timing and her high toned, almost melodically sung, interjection. “Now Clark,” She puts her arm around Jason as if to shelter him from his father harsh tone. “Jason is probably terrified at the thought of being away from us and attending a school he’s never been to before. Why, all those new friends he’ll have to meet and the professors that he’ll have to impress--a boy just has to be freighted to death.” Jason starts picking up his luggage and heading into the terminal. “Mom, I’m going to be fine.” Jason continues with an assuring yet sarcastic tone. “It’s not like I’m twelve years old and going off to summer camp. I’m going to be fine.” He chuckles under his breath. “Please. I have to check my bags in at the counter.” Jason’s father barks gruffly in frustration, as if to hide his nervousness behind his fatherly command. “Let the boy go, Claire.” He continues as he chomps on the bitter cigar and clears his throat. “But remember son what you just said; college isn’t summer camp.”
College isn’t summer camp? Are you kidding me! College is a playground for exploration; it’s the epitome of summer camp. Most students--as Jason probably was--are counting the days until there’re in college. You could only imagine the fantasies that posses a high school senior’s mind as he or she mentally prepares for college. What we stand to gain by understanding the mindset of high school seniors are not only the sheer humor of naivety, but more consequentially, the effects of stress and disappointment. There are endless list of fantasies and fears that plague the minds of naïveté high school seniors, but we’re going to focus on the fantasies and fears that are not so obvious. We are going to analysis the fantasy of false identity and the fear of evolution.
Let’s analyze what results when students falsely identify themselves through their fantasies. Have you ever seen the Shakespearean play titled “All the world’s a stage?” This title is fitting for high school seniors. The college campus becomes the stage and the students become the actors. This is when the masks are set in place and the roles that the students have created in their minds are acted out. The results of acting out their false identities can be very humorous as fantasy pushes its way into reality. Students who are eighteen years old, become twenty-one over night and metamorphosis into mature adults who fully understand the art of making love. Whatever the fantasy is, it’s not the truth. And the truth is what needs to be realized. Students think that while living in this fantasy life they will find fulfillment and security for themselves, but they could not be further from the truth. What we learn from this is the fantasies of becoming someone you’re not are deceiving to yourself and your peers. Though it may seem harmful and humorous coequally, the results are deception and false hope. These results produce unneeded stress and disappointment in a student’s life. Being true to yourself is not always easy, but in the end, truth results in happiness.
Even greater and closely connected, is the fear of evolving into an adult. This fear resides in most college freshmen because the final product, or rather, the graduation into their future, is either brutally evident to them or darkly unknown. Therefor, the evolution from adolescence to adulthood becomes very frightening. For example, the intuition of some students, whether true or false, leads them to believe that because of their GPA, financial status, or personal evaluation, they are destined to embrace or be imprisoned to a certain lifestyle. Hence, a student sees no other options and this blindness produces fear. Students might say to themselves, “My grandfather was a doctor; my father is a doctor; my brother’s a doctor; therefor, I must become a doctor.” Likewise, “I’m only going to college because my parents expect it of me.” This type of mindset results in a fear of adulthood because students are forced to live in the shadows of their family or are pressured into the expectations of others. Forcing expectations on students, whether implied or intentional, creates a fear of performance that stems from motivation by guilt. What results, when a student is motivated by guilt, is a student’s fear of becoming what he or she has no desire to become.
We deduce that it’s crucial to understand the fantasies and fears of college freshmen, because this knowledge will guide us in determining our motives when making true and just decisions. Likewise, we presume that at the graduation ceremony, students should receive an Academy Award with their diploma and a free psychological evaluation to boot.
© 1999 james olmos
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