Diminishing Returns

This is more of a poll than anything else, but the more I stay in school the more I feel like I’m getting less and less from it. I know I’ve written extremely similar opinions recently, but I feel like this is a topic that just won’t die. What I really want to know, though, is whether or not this is the same for people who have attended different colleges.

Going to a small school has its ups and downs. On the plus side, I can walk across campus in ten minutes or less and knowing where everything is is relatively easy. On the downside, it’s a small school with little to nothing to do outside of sitting around and going crazy. Small class sizes are touted as being a good thing here, and they are, but after five years I feel like I’d rather just have a big class so my professors won’t stare at me for having a computer in class.

I got into the discussion with some friends the other day about feeling like our entire time here has been for naught, where what we put in to the school (read: money) is not returned in an adaquate amount in the form of education and feeling like it was “worth it.” Basically, it doesn’t feel like, after it’s all said and done, that it was worthwhile to choose this particular institution. Is this a general consensus for college students at other schools, or is this just in and among my friends? Have I inadvertently grouped myself with the minority opinion on the campus? Who knows!

These opinions are not ones that I want to have. I want to be able to tell anyone with a straight face that I thoroughly enjoyed everything that I did and experienced in college as a result of the school itself. (You can’t blame school for failed friendships or similar experiences.) Unfortunately, I don’t think I can, and I wonder if I had chosen another school would I be thinking the same things. I don’t think it’s reasonable to expect to be completely satisfied with every aspect of a school, but I think one should feel like positive about the institution on the whole.

So if anyone is reading this, what is your opinion on your current or former college? Am I crazy?