New faces make for a new college

The face of the college student is a changing one. “Non-traditional students,” to cite the latest euphemism, are becoming a regular part of the scenery in every class. Of course, economic crisis of biblical proportions have a tendency to do this, but it’s interesting to see how the baby-boomers responded to our financial Armageddon.  Those who didn’t move to the hills of Montana to build bunkers and sit around picking ammonium nitrate beads out of fertilizer did the next most logical thing: went back to school to get a better job. In light of this, it’s safe to conclude that there’s nothing “non-traditional” about their motives, at least.

It’s important to remember that many non-traditional students may have an entirely different perspective on the college experience, because as for a lot of them, this isn’t their first time at college. That being said, here are a few crucial things to keep in mind when speaking with a non-traditional student.

In the interest of avoiding calling attention to any awkward generational gaps, it’s probably best not to discuss music. That’s a given, but not for the reasons one might suspect. Really, this first “Cardinal” rule is simply for saving yourself any possible embarrassment from being shown up. For example, let’s say you want to do a little boasting about what a killer time you had at the Sasquatch music festival this summer. A possible response from a non-traditional student might go something like, “Oh that’s nice. I went to one of those back in the day. It was called ‘Woodstock’. Maybe you’ve heard of it?” Conversation over.

For this same reason, there’s not much point discussing television either. This is reasonable enough though. Once you’ve seen Lee Harvey Oswald assassinated on a live broadcast, the rest of the stops television pulls out to shock you might pale in comparison.

Really, I’ve found talking about the college life in general is a good place to start, as it’s one aspect of American culture that’s stayed fairly consistent, and as I said earlier, for a lot of non-traditional students, this isn’t their first time attending college. While many people think their college experiences are individual, the truth is they are practically universal.  They still remember what the dating scene was like, or when they went through their Nietzsche phase. These things are a good jumping off point for us all while engaging in our casual banter.

It’s my belief that a classroom filled with people from all walks of  life is a great catalyst for a more meaningful discussion.  Frankly, the introduction of non-traditional students to the college atmosphere is something this traditional student doesn’t mind in the least.

This brings us to my last suggestion, which should be an obvious one. When engaging in a conversation with one of our new “non-traditional” students, it’s important to both observe and expect a certain amount of respect for each other’s generations and our respective cultures we grew up in. Even if “Happy Days” did suck.