We know so much about you, and yet every fall your fashion trends, music, and philosophy makes us shrug our shoulders and mutter about youth being wasted on the young. The tattoos and body piercing give us the creeps. Platform sneakers make us wonder "why?" Screeching unrythmatic off key free verse makes us long for The Beatles. Needing to be accessible 24 hours a day via pagers and cell phones makes us want to join the nearest chapter of The Freemen.
There are many scholarly journals that print articles concerning college freshman. You may be the most studied group in our society to date. Some of these journals are singularly devoted to studying college students' behavior, study habits, psychology and sociology. The Journal of College Student Development tells us that wilderness survival skills training has no measurable effect on the college adjustment for incoming freshmen. The Journal of Social Psychology tells us that student attitudes are a significant predictor of achievement in college. And the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology tells us that it if all of your dormmates agree that you are likeable they will attribute positive characteristics to you, and if they can't agree on liking you, you will be regarded unfavorably.
We know that you have about $ 2,600 of discretionary money to spend each semester, and many banks and marketing firms are trying to separate you from that cash as soon as possible. You are greatly influenced in career choice and field of study by what your parents do, your father more so than your mother. You are increasingly interested in making a lot of money; your single biggest reason to attend college is to maximize your potential earnings. You worry about the environment and animal rights, but seldom vote in local elections. If you get in trouble and put on academic probation, the single biggest factor in predicting your future success in college is your high school GPA.
We also know that about a third of entering freshmen will not return the following year. Pressure to drink alcohol is highest during this period. Drinking alcohol is associated with the likelihood of engaging in health-compromising behaviors like smoking cigarettes, using other drugs and unprotected sex. Rereading textbooks is the most effective strategy for understanding text. Interruption of daily activities and routines like staying up all night to party have a tendency to lead to depression in college freshmen. Writing about painful experiences and writing about college events reduce health center visits for illness and improve grade point average.
Freshmen most admire honesty and integrity followed by hard work and dedication. Nine in ten believe in God, and three fourths believe in life after death. Most of you volunteered your time last year to work with children, charitable organizations, churches or healthcare agencies. You exhibit a mixture of idealism and optimism and at the same time have a very realistic view of the world. You feel strongly that men and women need to work and should be paid equally for the same job. Businesses should operate in a climate of ethical responsibility to employees and shareholders as well as the overall environment. When asked the person they admire most, 18 year-olds most often say their mother.
So, we have your number. The green fingernails and the nose stud may give us pause, but we'll get over it. You are our future. Your taxes will pay our social security. Your inventions will make our lives better, and your children will brighten our old age. After all, we patched our jeans, grew our hair long, listened to the Grateful Dead, and generally drove our parents, teachers, and librarians crazy too.