A few weeks back, I read an open letter to college crybabies from a CEO about how college students expect the real world to coddle us.
As a hard working college student, with realistic expectations of safe spaces and future job prospects, I have written this response. I followed a similar format to address points specifically. Since the author addresses college students as a collective unit, I respond with plural nouns such as we and us.
Dear CEOs with similar sentiments,
Thank you for (seemingly) understanding the stress of college. Yes, we have numerous papers to write and ample assignments due on a daily basis. But we deal with much more than daily homework stress or a fight with our best friends or significant other.
It’s tough, indeed.
Our professors challenge our notions of right and wrong, too. We have to read books we may not agree with, engage in discussion about topics that hit close to home, and talk to people with different values and ideals. This isn’t necessarily a challenge, but a necessity in becoming a well-rounded, conscious person. Not all of us are intolerant of opposing opinions; we are only intolerant when those opinions threaten our safety.
Learning is exciting. With so many new innovations and advances in technology, we have access to valuable resources our parents didn’t. We are inventing. We are progressing. We are striving. But we are also not going to stay quiet about the injustices we experience. We are grateful for this costly education we are receiving. When we are paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for an education, it is fair to expect certain accommodations.
I am actually not offended by anything you’ve said thus far, Mr. CEO. Everyone is entitled to his or her opinions. However, I must contend that there is nothing wrong with running to a safe space or safe place. I will refer to it as a safe place, as you have, but it is commonly known as a safe space. Many college students struggle with mental health issues, and although those issues may not impact me personally, I will not shun my fellow peers for needing more resources to make them feel safe. You gave “safe place” a negative connation, and I do not believe that to be a fair assumption to make.
A safe place is an environment created where people can be 100 percent open about the problems they have in their lives without fear of judgment or retaliation. Not every place is meant to be a safe place. My home is a safe place (it isn’t for everyone, however), but my job is not.
If my best friend is suffering from a crippling anxiety attack or a bout of manic depression, I want him or her to feel comfortable running to a safe place. If your offensive comment is triggering, I want the person offended to get help from the proper sources.
We don’t cite urbandictionary.com in our papers or senior theses, but thanks for the reference.
I don’t think “wussification” is the problem. Rather, liberal college students do not stand for injustices and our fight is misconstrued as us being offended or us turning into wussies. Some students—like myself—with strong opinions will immediately get critical of somebody like Donald Trump or Milo. Does that make me a wussy? No. It makes me a person with a moral compass that does not stand for injustices. Just as they can speak up, so can I.
Don’t apologize, Mr. CEO. We do not need to be told how wonderful we are. Believe me, we know that we are not all shining stars deserving of recognition. The assumption is that we need to be coddled, when in reality we just want to be treated equally. I do not need a pat on the back every time I do something right, nor do I want that. We understand that great success comes from hard work and we put in that work daily.
College is our first step into the real world. Most of have jobs or internships during college, and/or have had a taste of the real world from other experiences. Me personally: I have my own apartment, I pay my own bills, and I have two jobs and two internships. Believe me, I know something about life and responsibilities. If I were to leave my safety net, as you claim I have in college, I would be just fine in the real world. I am doing it now this summer as a working adult.
I can tell you are a white man just by your tone. “So-called” marginalized students? The students at the University of Arizona who demanded a more inclusive diversity plan and more money to enact this plan, among other things, ARE marginalized. The definition of marginalized, according to Merriam-Webster, is “to put or keep (someone) in a powerless or unimportant position within a society or group.” How, as a white male who has always had power in society, can you tell students from minority and LGBTQ+ communities that they are not marginalized? You can’t.
There are extremes in every case. Should I feel threatened by someone writing “Trump 2016” on the ground? No. What I am threatened by is the hateful rhetoric of Trump supporters who threaten to hurt black people. Hate speech is illegal, and if my classmates threaten my safety in that regard, they should be reprimanded. A few letters on the sidewalk mean nothing to me, but threats to hurt me do mean something.
I do not look for a safe place, because my campus does not have one. I know people craving a safe place where they can be open and honest about the issues they are facing and problems they are experiencing. Does that mean they are victims of wussification? No. It means they are human. Humans face issues and it is okay to need help sometimes. People like you make it difficult for others to accept the fact that is okay to not be okay.
I walk out of my apartment with my head held high ready to conquer what the world throws at me. I am ready for almost anything and I attribute my successes to that characteristic of mine. Here are some lessons you should learn about compassion and humanity.
1. I don’t need the business world to give a damn about me
No, really—I don’t. My personal life does not affect my job, except for in extreme cases such as the death of a loved one. I hope if your wife or mother or sibling died, you would want a day off work for the funeral. I was in an emotionally and physically abusive relationship, and managed to miss one day of work because of it. I think I know a thing or two about separating my personal life from work. I agree that bosses have their breaking points, but that does not mean I’m only good for giving excuses. If something comes up, something comes up. I’m sure you’ve been late for an event or two in your lifetime. If you give me guidelines, and I consistently break them, of course I shouldn’t have that job. Not all college students believe they are entitled to things because they are wonderful. You’re paying me to do a job and I will do a damn good job.
2. I don’t expect work to be my safe place
I don’t run to my job when I need an escape. I run to my friends or family. Just because my job may not be my safe place, does not mean I am not entitled to a safe place at all. I want the real world to challenge me. I want to reach my maximum potential. The reason I left my hometown was because I couldn’t grow. I was around stagnant people who had no motivation to be better, so I moved to the East Coast to be pushed. I surrounded myself with people who are better than me. As a journalist, I want my boss to rip my ideas to shreds. I want to become a better writer. Why is that a bad thing? We aren’t all sensitive. Most of us can take criticism. I can work with people whom I dislike (I have done it before). Most college students want money, and if you are paying us, we can look past our differences and get the job done.
Reading this portion of your article, I am baffled. If you ask anybody who knows me, I am an extremely hardworking individual who hustles harder than anyone to get the job done. I thought you were going to write about how college students have become wussies, but somehow you are talking about our work ethic and how we don’t hustle.
Woah. Mr. CEO, your privilege is seeping through now. Not everyone who is on unemployment is someone who is lazy and wussified. Most people on unemployment are minorities, because it is statistically more difficult for us to get jobs. Single moms and working families also collect unemployment because they can’t maintain a job and a household. The reasons why someone might collect unemployment are vast. Maybe you should take a sociology class to learn about other races in the world and how social issues impact them.
3. I took economics. I know “there’s no such thing as a free lunch”
Need I say more? You keep saying “I get it,” but you simply don’t. Most college students don’t come from old money. I’m not speaking for the heirs to millionaires. I’m speaking for the working college student who sees the value of a safe place, the student that knows the value of hard work and its benefits. We are in college, getting an education—we have to work for it. We can’t wake up one day with a degree. No. We have to actually get up and go to classes, turn in our assignments, take finals, etc. to get that magical piece of paper. Taxes are designed to give us access to public resources. We complain about potholes in the road, and our taxes and tolls pay to fix them. We whine about taxes because they are tedious and downright annoying to complete. Do we do them? Yes. Do we like it? No. Do you like doing taxes? I don’t think so. I can complain about that. Or do I have to pretend the world is peachy keen and perfect as you think I think it is? Do you really think we don’t know we have to pay for these things?
4. Who said I was a victim?
In college, any time my feelings were hurt, my feelings were hurt. That doesn’t mean I am a victim. If I survived a rape or assault, I was a victim of rape or assault. Just because my feelings are hurt, that does not mean I am a victim. If I’m challenged, I am forced to look at the world in a different way. The only challengers who I consider bigots are the ones who posses racist, misogynist, and homophobic views. Are those not bigots? You say that the content of who I am is more important than the color of my skin or socioeconomic background, but can’t even recognize that I am from a marginalized community. I would like to believe that my content of my character is more important, but in the world we live in not everybody sees that. Does that make me a victim? No. That makes me a racially conscious human being.
5. No, really?! I didn’t know success is hard work!
Success is obviously hard work. Why do you think some of us go to medical school or graduate school? We want to have high-earning careers. Why do you think we put so many hours into schoolwork? We want to do well. All of my graduated senior friends were ecstatic when they received their first job offers. Hell, when I got my first entry-level job in high school I was grateful. We don’t expect to get passes—We just expect equal, fair treatment.
So, Mr. CEO, I will enjoy the rest of college career as a hardworking student. I don’t consider college a daycare, because no one watches over me. No one makes sure I go to class. No one force-feeds me. I am accountable for myself.
You think you are speaking to a large portion of the college population, but you aren’t. I do not know a single person with the ideals or values you’ve written about in this article.
Sincerely,
Jazmyne A. Jackson
Student, Editorial Intern, Writer, Hardworking HUMAN