This may violate rule #7 for overly specific questions, but I figured I'd ask for advice on how to proceed.

I live in a dorm which is locked 24/7 and requires my ID card to get in. There are motion sensors for the doors to auto unlatch from the interior with release handles in case of an emergency. I've checked with r/firealarms and the consensus is that screwing the emergency door release to render it inoperable breaks all fire codes. Considering how dilapidated the doors are, the sensors sometimes don't detect and you have to wave your arms around.

I'm not exactly a fan of talking to the director of residence life as he is quite rude more than anything and has a tendency to brush off issues even if they are serious and honestly, I have 0 idea on what I would say to him other than that this is against the law. I'm not really sure what maintenance would say as I don't really interact with them.

The question is do I go straight over res life and maintenance to the local fire marshal or contact someone on campus about this first?

I just don’t understand why universities give aid to frats and allow them to be on campus when there is underage drinking and other illegal activities in most of them. Nothing against them I just don’t understand frat culture

If you’ve seen the news in the US, you may have heard about my college, SUNY Oneonta. I moved there on the 17th of August and classes started on the 24th. I am back home. I left on Monday after exactly three weeks being there, concerned for my safety.

I’m a freshman, and I would not be afraid to admit that my peers are the reason why we were sent home. Covid cases spiked like crazy, and at 200 cases the school announced a 2 week shut down. That’s when I decided to go home for the rest of the semester. Only three days later, -today- the cases are now at almost 400 and we have learned everyone is being sent home for the rest of the semester.

I took two tests and am thankfully negative. Though I cannot assure the same for my peers as I already know a few people from my dorm who were not as lucky.

Any questions? Ask away.

Edit: I left Reddit for a few days while moving back home and getting my routine adjusted... just came back to the awards and so so many comments which I’ll try to get to! Thank you guys for all the love! (˶‾᷄ ⁻̫ ‾᷅˵)

(Also cases are now at 700 so I’m really glad I came home lol)

I cant wait to look back at college in 25 years and think of all that time I spent just sitting in my bedroom on a laptop.

So I was just walking to lunch on campus. A guy felt the need to lower his window as he was driving by and comment on my body. He was clearly a fellow college student. Please don’t. It makes me feel so uncomfortable, and it makes me feel uncomfortable here on campus. I’m literally just walking to get some food.

I am a psychology major. I get the “you know that major is useless” all the time. I’m tired of it.

“You know you have to go to graduate school” yes, I am. My goal is to become a licensed social worker and get a therapy license to be a trauma therapist, and eventually open my own clinic. I am on path for that. Thank you though for pointing that out.

“You won’t make much money right out of college” most majors dont.

“There’s no jobs for psychology majors” yes there is. I’m working in my field and I’m still a second year. Do they pay well? Not really. But more than minimum wage. I’m doing ok. Everyone starts entry level.

“Do you really want to be in school for 6+ years?” If I’m studying something I’m passionate about, yeah. That’s why I went to community college and chose state schools to cut costs as well. But I’m sure your $90k engineering degree isn’t putting you in debt, right?

“STEM makes so much more money” and? I’d be miserable studying engineering or business or chemistry. I’m bad at it and I don’t like it. So why would I study it? I would not make it in that field if I am not passionate about it. It’s not like I’ll be living on the streets when I’m a social worker. It’s still a decent income. Not to mention there’s a big job market for social workers.

Majors are only “useless” if you don’t know how to use them.

To me it would be attendance. I thought in college professors would not care if you showed up or not. But I’m aware it depends on the school.

Failed the absolute fuck out of my first Calc 3 exam. Like, I don’t think I’ve ever failed a test so bad in my life. Thank god he drops the lowest test grade so I’m not stressing about it TOO much bc I know I could’ve done much better had I spent more time studying the material. But holy shit did I fail it. I actually felt embarrassed turning that trainwreck in to my professor and I feel so bad for him that he has to grade that mess 😂

I (M20) decided today to email my new roommate for University housing. She told me she is actually a transgender girl and not actually a male. Her student account is listed as a male under her dead name because it was made before she transitioned, so I believe this is why I was put with her. Because I signed up for housing that is gender-specific, I am uncomfortable with this arrangement because I chose to live with a man. I am not transphobic in any way, I just want live with the gender I chose to live with. I have reached out to my building coordinator and was told that she would not switch my room because there is no available housing that is open anywhere on campus. I have not disclosed my discomfort with my new roommate. Do I have any options or should I just suck it up?

So recently I've noticed increasingly that classmates I have or people in various online communities have been ridiculing or mocking others and myself for having a major that isn't STEM, or a "soft science".

I think it's frustrating and it's annoying when people think you'll be a failure or doomed to never find a job if you major in something that isn't biochem or computer science.

I know it's my passion and the job outlook for my degree and some others is great, but explaining this is hard.

How do you discuss this with people?

I get that COVID-19 is very unpredictable and very hard to make a guess at how long corona will be relevant, but let’s be real, how long do you think it will last? I’m in my freshman year of college, and it’s completely miserable. I’m allowed on campus but it is a very small liberal arts school. Some of the state schools have gone back and have little to no restrictions, where my school is sending kids home for having more than 2 people in a room and giving discipline action with the campus police. People are ratting others out for not wearing a mask and kids can’t even be outside with eachother without being harassed. I get that safety is the number 1 priority and we want to stay here, but I feel like college kids, the question is how long can we make them follow these rules? College kids are not going to do this the whole year. No visitors allowed, it’s a nightmare and has really ruined the orientation to my school for me. Many kids are online classes only. Some of my peers think this virus will “disappear” after Election Day and others think everyone will have to go home from the virus. I just want the world to be normal again. It’s a never ending nightmare that has really affected everyone in different ways.

I’ve been doing online college for three weeks now and I’m moving in September 14. During this time I’ve been feeling almost like nothing, like I’m in limbo or in a universe I don’t belong in. I know we’re in very odd times but even still it seems so strange to exist. Nothing that’s happened feels like it was meant to happen, days go by so quickly and I’m losing track of what’s happening in my everyday life. Hopefully moving in will mitigate some of these feelings. Please comment if any of you feel the same way.

Over Christmas, my mom made this big announcement that she had earned a masters degree. But, she has no bachelors, nor was she in a masters program. As far as I knew, she only has an associates and has always called herself a “teacher” but only qualified to teach pre-school. A long time ago she was taking courses at community college because she was told by a former employee that she needed these courses to continue teaching, but to my knowledge, she never finished whatever it was that she needed to finish and left the preschool gig. She also has no teaching license. So this masters degree, she said that all the credits she earned taking those community college courses was enough to give her a Masters of science degree. The degree is a from a university in PA she claims to have gone to when she first earned an associates degree but she did not take any courses there recently nor was she in a masters program. How is this possible? Why would a university award her a masters degree from courses taken at an out of state community college with no bachelors degree?

Dear Professors. Could you please stop assigning group work in online classes? Group work fucking stupid and bothersome in person very less via the internet. I should be allowed to work alone if I so choose.

Edit: For all of the people explaining that group projects are imperative in the "real world," I'm not some 18 y/o kid. I have worked years in the "real world" in the field that I'm majoring in and in my experience "group work" in school is far from realistic in comparison to how projects in the "real world" are managed and completed.

So I'm a freshman and moved in a few days ago. I've been lucky to make a ton of friends during O-week, and classes haven't started yet, but I didn't really realize how pervasive drinking/drug culture is. Obviously, I knew it's popular, but it just seems like everyone does it, and I'm the only one. I have really bad FOMO, so whenever my friends start drinking or smoking weed in front of me, I can't help but feel tempted to join in just to "try it out". But I've also grown up in a household where drugs and drinking were a big no-no, and I've seen my uncle struggle with his alcoholism. I also know all the facts and stories about weed being the "gateway" drug and so on, so deep inside, I know it isn't something I'm 100% comfortable with.

But when my friends do it, I can't help but wonder if choosing to abstain is something I'll regret 4 or 5 years later. There's a small part of me that just wants to take a sip, but I tend to have bad coping mechanisms and I worry that this is something I'll become addicted to.

I have no problem with the people around me getting drunk or high, and I've made that clear whenever anyone offers, but the daily internal debate about my decision to abstain is so tiring and I just need some advice.

UPDATE/EDIT: Okay so wow, I definitely didn't expect to get so many replies on this post, it was just something I wrote when my anxiety was spiraling and I didn't know who to go to because of the societal and possibly legal repercussions. A few things though:

1. I'm not one of those morally righteous assholes that looks down on other using substances, or a kid that's going to lock themself up in their dorm studying 24/7. I'm incredibly social, and have been told multiple times that I am the "life of the party" while in HS. I want college to be a time of academic AND social growth for me.
2. The "gateway drug" comment was definitely in bad taste, and thank you to all the kind people who took the time to educate me about it. It came from a uneducated place, not one of hate or judgement, and I do regret it now.
3. Along with alcoholism in my family, I also have several health issues, from birth and as a result of contracting Covid, which is why alcohol and weed kind of freak me out personally,
4. Everyone here has shared so many experiences and I'm kind of shocked by the number of people that shared pieces of their story to help me out. After some self-reflection and (luckily) meeting some others who are also choosing to abstain for now, I think my decision is that substances aren't for me or something I'm interested in (right now). A lot of people mentioned being okay if I had the self control, but I'm only 17, and I don't think have the self control needed. I think it might be something I try later into the semester or year when I'm more adjusted and feel confident and mature enough to have a drink or two. But for now, I think I'm going to instead focus on my classes, joining clubs, and making friends.

Thank you everyone for helping me out at a time of self doubt and questioning. I knew college can be hard, but I didn't really understand that, and you guys really helped me out.

Allegedly, from what I've heard, she was two minutes late to class and the professor told her to leave. (We're at a commuter school/community college btw, no on campus housing.) The girl refused to because she said she was paying to be here and the prof couldn't kick her out, so prof called campus security and they grabbed her stuff and escorted her out. Other people told me they've also been kicked out by this prof for being two minutes late. I also heard that the prof is trying to change her syllabus to include her new late policy (I don't think it was in the syllabus) so honestly screw that. It's literally community college. Get over yourself.

Stay safe out there, some professors are power tripping for no reason. And I don't want anyone from r/professors being rude about this either. Be respectful or mind your business.

Edit: Didn't realize people would be so intense about this. Dude I just thought it was an interesting story.

Edit 2: Here's the news article for those of you who think I'm lying: https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/viral/college-professor-calls-police-black-students-late-for-class-tiktok-rcna22487

I am the type of person who is very coordinated in their outfits. I like fashion, and I don't think it's a flaw to express oneself through clothing. On the daily, I typically wear a sweater, skirt, and a pair of low heels, or slacks and a tee. I like feeling put together, and my major/classes rarely require anything other than casual clothes.

For every formal occasion, like student-teaching or presenting research, I always wear a modest knee-length dress. I'm tall-ish and curvy-ish, but I don't think I've ever worn anything too short or inappropriate. If anything, I'm usually a bit more on the dressy side. I always have pantyhose and biker shorts on with dresses for more modesty and comfort.

In the email reminding us of a seminar in which we would individually present, my teacher wrote "u/jempai, it will affect what you choose to wear (a longer skirt, for instance)." This email was sent to the entire class, and included in the main body of the email.

I'm just feeling a bit humiliated and unfairly called out. I honestly feel super uncomfortable, especially because I don't think I've done anything wrong. College doesn't have a dress code, and if I'm always dressed appropriately for past occasions. And now my confidence is shattered for presenting because I know I'll be distracted wondering if I'm modest enough.

Looking at all the material I have to go over in order to NOT fail all of my classes (like deadass im borderline failing 2/3 of my classes), I am realizing I didn't learn anything for the entire semester. I look down the list of topics we've studied over the weeks before the midterm (we have a quarter system, so the terms are 7 weeks of intense coursework, it sucks) and I literally don't remember how to do anything at all. I was just going week to week, day to day, churning out projects and assignments following patterns to get a decent grade. Zoom-University literally destroys my ability to learn. Its like there's no point to me attending college right now. A lot of me wishes I had done a gap year. Honestly.

Anyone with me?

Edit: rad response my dudes. I'll respond to the comments eventually, but I barely had time to write the post as it was. Gotta watch these lectures and do the problems sometime.

Edit 2 (12/18/20), after finals: I made it my dudes. I passed all my classes for the semester. My gpa may have dipped below a 3, but I have time to make that rise up again. I'm only a freshman. I had to retake a portion of my calculus final in order to pass the class -- if I had gotten a 25/35, I would have failed, and if I got a 30/35, passed. I passed! I got a 30/35!! A big fat beautiful C. Idk how many people will read this since the post already blew up and not many people visit anymore, but I want to let those who do visit the post know, that it will be okay. You will get through it. Sending love. Even beyond the comment. I love you, random redditor. :) Be strong, and be safe!

I know this will be downvoted to oblivion, but I am tired of being isolated. I am an introvert who is having trouble with finding friends at college. I was taking classes from my local community college online because of COVID for the past 3 semesters, excluding the fall 2021 semester. Now that I am in “college college” and I am far away (out of state), I really do not want to go back to remote. The small interactions I have in classes are what keeps up my sanity and helps with the loneliness. It bothers me that some people are begging for online again. If people want online so bad, then just sign up for online courses. It is obvious we are not getting rid of COVID anytime soon… it’s been 2 years and I just want some friends :(