Reality Check: A College Student's Survival Guide

By John Mikaelian

Reality Check: A College Student's Survival Guide is the ONLY college survival guide written by a current college student, young adult and it uses a unique conversational tone, which makes it an easy, attention-grabbing read. It is a thought-provoking wake-up call for college students and young adults, as it helps them make informed personal decisi

• Language: English
• Publisher: Hovannes John Mikaelian
• Release date: Sep 4, 2012
• ISBN: 9780990445616

Book preview

Chapter 1

‘Like’ My Status

It’s no secret that social media has grown quickly over the past few years, and the activity with which it surrounds us is very compelling to the say the least. Social media can be thought of as the friend who lives next door and knows you very well. It knows when you’re happy and when you’re upset. It knows who you talk to and recommends people for you to talk to. Our spirits are filled with curiosity and eagerness the moment we find out there’s new activity begging for our attention. It’s almost as if we are enjoying a moment from our childhood when we used to go to the candy store and indulge on our favorite sweets; we savored the moment and hoped it would last forever.

As you may already know, however, good things don’t last forever including our childhood memories. You’re probably staring at me like a deer blinded by bright headlights wondering what the heck I’m talking about but bear with me here and we’ll get to the good stuff. Have you ever noticed how notifications appear? They pop out on the screen with attractive colors and designs. For some reason, it reminds me of the bright lights you see in Las Vegas. There’s no denying that they are there to grab our attention but how much of our attention do we devote to social media? Are we spending too much time on social networks? Are we too dependent on them?

I'm sure you've heard this a couple times from your parents before. Alright, let's be honest, I'm sure you've heard this many, many times before. Parents are always wondering what we, young adults, are doing on social networks. For example, my parents always tell me how they didn't have this type of digital communication when they were my age. If I had a dime for every time I heard that, I would be standing next to Mark Zuckerberg right now. You know what's interesting? We're always under the impression of how our parents are anti-social. However, is that true? Are we so social to the point where our parents are anti-social? If you think about it, someone who is anti-social would be someone that doesn't really put his or her self out there and interact with people face to face.

Technically, when we send messages through these social networks, we are communicating with others but it's not being done in person. So would that make us anti-social even though we are communicating with others through social networks? You have to understand where our parents and ancestors come from.  They lived in a world where they had to depend on one another to spread any type of news whether it was business-related, gossip, marriage invitation, graduation ceremony, you name it.  There was something called word of mouth back in those days and apparently, it didn’t make it into today’s world. You might’ve heard of it before. They used to get together and surround themselves with family and friends, which resulted into storytelling and laughter. When they wanted to watch a movie, they had to go to a movie theatre. Back then, they didn’t have the luxuries we enjoy today. They weren’t able to watch movies at home on a disc or over the Internet. Nowadays, technology has provided us with many conveniences. In this case, it’s social media. How social is social media, though? Yes, it allows us to meet new people and reconnect with the ones that we might’ve lost touch with.  It allows us to be social without actually going somewhere. Let’s compare apples to apples: let’s say you meet someone for the first time on a social network and on the same day, you meet someone else in person. Which scenario would you consider to be more social than the other? I can’t make the decision for you as everyone is entitled to their own opinion but it does give you a chance to look deeper into the grand scheme of things.

No matter where you go, you can’t help but notice people constantly checking their social network accounts for new activity whether it's on their cell phones, laptops, or other electronic devices. I have to admit that I have been caught red handed and I am guilty of this as well. I’m sure many of you can relate to that. This doesn’t surprise me, though. Social media is a powerful tool that allows you to connect to many people throughout the world who share some of the same interests as you. Social networks allow you to establish connections with new people and share ideas with one another. If you have a great idea, you can spread the word almost instantly.

Since we’re already on the subject, let’s talk about communication, the old school way. Since social media, e-mail, text messaging didn’t exist a couple of decades ago, people used to talk on the phone. Nothing special about that, right? What about the value of actually being able to hear someone’s voice and tone? When you speak to someone on the phone, you can find out a lot of things such as how they’re feeling and what type of mood they’re in. You would know when they are happy or upset. Also, there’s something special about hearing someone’s voice. If you haven’t talked to a certain individual for a long period of time, you would enjoy talking to them and actually hearing their voice. I might be sounding crazy right now but I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels this way.

When it comes to social media and other forms of electronic text communication, you can’t prove the person you’re communicating with is the person you assume to be. For example, let’s say your friend Natalie just broke up with her boyfriend Jason and she is texting you about the situation. You’re her really good friend, so you are texting her back about your opinion of the break-up, of Jason, of everything. You’re assuming the person who is sending, reading and replying to your texts is Natalie, right? It very well could be Jason being nosy and pretending to be Natalie. Jason could be very well attempting to obtain information from you and you wouldn’t be aware of it. It’s more common than you think. My intent is not to make you paranoid but to give you an idea of how valuable it is to speak to someone rather than communicating through a text message, e-mail, or a social media website. Could it be that communication has taken one step forward but five steps back? The latest craze isn’t always the greatest depending on your own perspective.

One of my biggest concerns about the digital world has always been security. How secure is your private information on these social networks? Where is all of your private information being stored? Who has access to your information? Word on the street is that prospective employers may have been able to gain access to information posted by potential employees on these social networks. What's the reasoning behind this? Well, employers might be able to dig up information about a job applicant who they believe is a perfect fit for the position they’re trying to fill. Any type of information can quickly tip the scale that isn’t in favor of the job applicant. Apparently, a résumé does not provide them with sufficient information. Yes, they do have your work experience and background information but quite frankly, it’s not enough. What type of information could they be searching for? Your guess is a good as mine as it remains a mystery. They might be looking for photos? Maybe they're taking a peak at the status updates you post to see how you communicate with others? Whatever the case may be, it wouldn't be a bad idea to take some security precautions. Lately, I've noticed a lot of pictures being used by the news media that are directly from social networks. The source of the picture is usually cited underneath the picture. I guess that's one