Don't Make Bad Decisions

The Frat Boy News Daily College Column
By Claire St. Amant, Staff Writer, The Baylor Lariat

Pizza binges, parking tickets, forgotten bills and mysterious tattoos. Some choices in college are worse than others.

"A lot of things kids do in college are not the end of the world," Maxey Parrish, journalism lecturer, said. "But there are some decisions that have a lifelong impact." Parrish identified a newfound sense of freedom and a desire to "test the boundaries" as factors for deviant behavior in the college years.

"For many students this is the first time in their lives where they don't have someone telling them right from wrong," he said.

Dr. Tamara Rowatt, senior psychology lecturer said students in college are particularly vulnerable to impulsive behavior, often resulting in harmful consequences. Rowatt cited unsafe and premature sex as one of the common mistakes students make.

"In college, it's a time where men and women are interested in not only pursuing their identities but also relationships," she said.

Jacob Taylor, a 2006 graduate, said he is already realizing how different things are in the working world than in college.

"I feel like college is the only time in your life when you can act impulsively and get away with it," he said. "In the real world it doesn't work like that." Although Taylor said he didn't do the "typical college party scene," he remembers having plenty of "crazy times" with friends.

"I've done some stupid things that were drinking-related," he said. "I don't really regret it, but I wouldn't do it now."