We are living in a time of unprecedented growth and change. The college campus is the ultimate forum of debate, discussion and establishment of an individual’s intellectual identity. It is in these spaces where students are not only tasked with understanding the past but reckoning with the present and molding the philosophical hopes and intentions of our collective future. As this generation’s batch of philosophical trailblazers and world movers existing in a strange, new world of rapid exponentiality how much do we want things to continue to change and what is worth staying the same?

The old adage “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” comes to mind here yet it seems that things have now reached a plane of disrepair. It is in these formidable intermediaries that the paradigm of history must be reshaped. Out with the old, in with the new, but if it isn’t broke, maybe it can stay.

As Campus Life editor I have undertaken the task of an investigation into the legitimacy of the purpose of a Campus Life section here in NECC’s Observer. In my recent interviews with staff and students it has become apparent to me that there is a schism between the fundamental realities of our commuter community and an ambiguous desire to transcend those realities in an effort to substantiate the so called “college experience.”

In fact this term “college experience” is a bit of a fallacy. The idea of “getting an education” has become so warped and twisted that it has seemingly fallen second in importance to simply obtaining a degree as proof of an accomplishment that will admit you into the next gateway of life. This or you have the money and need to extend your childhood (because who really wants to grow up).

I personally know many people whose quest for academic rigor and intellectual enlightenment has been diluted in the romanticized mire of the “college experience.” The idea of a four year school for many recent high school grads has become an implied vortex of hedonistic purging as part of the reward for reaching a new milestone in adulthood and personal liberty. This would be a benign biproduct of post juvenile jubilee for many if it wasn’t so societally catastrophic. 

What’s different about NECC is people more often than not come here for the purpose of a larger goal. They have the time to figure things out, maybe even make a few mistakes, many trying their hand at a four year school and realizing the money wasn’t worth it for what they were getting out of the experience at that time in their lives. 

According to a study by the PEW Research Center almost half of all American young men and women not in school stated their reasons were due to the cost of education. On top of that between 12% and 20% of Americans have student loan debt averaging around 1.7 trillion dollars, only around 1 million dollars less than the United States federal deficit. Because most esteemed colleges are private institutions they are regularly not eligible for the same kinds of subsidies granted to public institutions.

The risk and pressure of pursuing your dreams, your education and your career have become increasingly dicey. How much of this cost is associated with a dedication to the betterment of a students mind and how much is it related to creating the “college experience.”

On top of that we are seeing a veritable social inversion in our culture writ large. The dichotomy of technology that is supposed to connect us and in fact is separating us more than ever puts us at a grave psychological crossroads. The shifting discernment between the benefits of online learning and working from home post pandemic have also reshaped our social environments. 

To top it all off the vicious culture war divides in our country have given way to an overall restructuring of American morals and value systems that have left us shattered and disparate. This is a national and in some cases global situation that is continuing to unfold. There are many forces at play when it comes to the unraveling of our contemporary social fabric not just a problem with whether or not people should dorm at community college to make more friends and drink more alcohol.

At NECC our lack of campus community may actually be a strength in honing our pupils focus on their studies and the purpose and meaning of this step in the project of their lives, all theoretically while being able to hold down a job and manage the rest of life’s responsibilities, something that would be very difficult while dorming and going to school full time.

In my research and interviews with students so far I have found many students are not actually yearning for a more robust campus life and the students that are may already just be seeking out connection and community in general. 

I don’t think we should give up on the premise of creating that kind of community for students but I think being realistic about our strengths and our weaknesses when we look at the reality of the situation means devoting our efforts into specialized support towards getting students on the path for whatever they want to achieve and to be able to do it affordably. 

Resources should also be devoted to offering students state of the art technology and access to the cutting edge of new information that pushes the envelope of mandated curricula.

It’s still hard to fathom in the swirling turbidity of our modern lives what “ain’t broke” and what “needs fixin’”. If anything we should be adapting our learning environments to be more suitable to the everchanging playing field of educational needs and aspirations of all types of students with an emphasis on growth and integration as a human being so they can in turn create a fulfilling life and fill that life with connection.

At the end of the day NECC is a space we all share and the dire realities of our existential plight going forward should not obstruct us from acknowledging one another. 

We have to remember to see each other, make each other feel seen and to find ourselves in other people. 

Otherwise we are going to be making babies in test tubes and gazing back out of a small glass porthole in space at the seething, fiery corpse of an exhausted organism we once called Mother Earth, running away from a place we once called home.