For many young Americans, going away to college is the beginning of making their way in the world. Getting away from the supervision and influence of parents is the key to making it a success. One might think that turning away from parents would be a foolish thing when starting out in the world, maybe after hearing a new college graduate comment on how nice it must have been to have no rent while living with parents. Actually, it can be viewed as the right of passage for successful people in the workforce, especially among the leadership. Surviving college on your own, and coming out ahead is the earmark for a determined and responsible contributor to society. Think back to any biography you have read or seen on television. It can nearly be guaranteed that no successful person was the type that stayed at home during their education keeping in mind the era in which we are living. That's not to say that success is unavailable for those that stay home for college. For some, remaining at home might have been the key that help them succeed; but asking around, especially of the successful people in the workplace, will reveal most people went out on their own.
Personal time management is the first thing a student will face fresh out of the nest. This is typically taken care of by a parent or legal guardian; considering things like enforcing timely arrival to school, to practice or to appointments with dentist. When the responsibility of attendance falls on a new college student, it can nearly be guaranteed that poor decisions will be made to stay up late, then to sleep in or skip a class. A few poor graded from falling behind or missing that all important surprise pop quiz will teach the importance of attendance and time management for academic success. Serious students who survive to their junior and senior years have usually learned to avoid missing class in order to succeed. Also, by that point a student may have learned to juggle their time in cases where they need to compromise on an appointment versus a lecture and may have to rely on their network of peers to keep up. This leads into the next area of importance of experience for the solo student: the importance of networking.
Networking is something that comes almost natural for new students. There are tons of potential friends at their disposal. Making the right choices is what needs to be learned, and is usually accomplished by trial and error. A young student may have not yet come to understand, in a common sense sort of way, that you are who your friends are. That is a broad generalization of course, but it works if you look at the similarities in personality that can develop among a group of athletes, or a group of artists, or a group of political activists. Should a student choose a crowd that prefers to spend money and time on partying or having fun over focus on studies or maintaining GPA, the tendency will be to follow suit. Peer pressure at the traditionally young age of college students is powerful. The more determined and responsible minded student will learn to understand what his or her limits are, and will take charge of what circle of friends might be best, rather than a hindrance, for success in college. Making responsible choices in a network of peers will be something only learned by experience. Having parents around to influence or disrupt this process can stunt the maturing effect that peer choices have on young adults.
Job experience is another important factor in life for young people setting out on their own. Living at home with the parents leaves room for the temptation to not work hard for a living, otherwise needed to survive. Even worse, the availability of earned money is probably disposable income that, for the independent student, would go toward rent, gas and other bills. Having these types of responsibility with an entry level job will build character. It goes without saying: people are much more resilient in youth. Working a dirty or low paying job in college might be easier to handle, considering the hours or the strenuous physical activities. Learning to make ends meet in these circumstances will make you respect your income and will give the experience of teamwork, personal interaction or humility, as is needed when entering the professional workforce. Interview tips from some may lead you to think different, as confidence is so highly regarded, but someone who may have not been through these types of humbling situations can easily mistake confidence with arrogance.
Most people will surely attribute learning by experience to the majority of their personal successes, be they physical, mental or spiritual. Personal finance, for example, is usually the most difficult hurdle to overcome, even for those beyond college. This can be especially difficult for a young college student with no personal financial management experience yet to speak of. The levels of poverty that can be experienced in college, however, can break anyone of financial irresponsibility. From personal experience, financial management was what nearly put me out of the game. I learned that my lack of awareness of where I spent my money and poor financial management was what helped land me in debt counseling services before ever graduating college. After taking some time to track my spending, to the penny even pennies pulled from a change bucket, I found money wasted on junk food, sodas and candy could be split between buying quality groceries, paying bills or saving for a rainy day. This exercise was self taught, and was the beginning step toward successful management of my personal finances. These things, along with others, really come down to what your parents, grandparents or aunts and uncles may have said to you: "just you wait", or "you'll learn". They surely said this with apparent knowledge of the consequences of some actions and understood that you would only learn by experience to change those actions. Many things in life cannot be fully understood and mastered until they have been seen, felt and experienced firsthand; which is just part of being human. Making the trek through college with your parents will lead to missed opportunities of experience and learning at a point when they are needed most; it is best to leave them at home.