culture

In class today, we discussed culture. An example used was Illinois Wesleyan. We talked about the economic make-up of IWU and how many people pretend to be middle-class. From my experience, I have found that this is a "yuppy" school. Majority, not all but most, of the students here do come from money. Mom and Dad can pay for tuition and they very rarely have to worry about loans. My family, although still technically middle-class, does not have much money. There is no money for them to pay for my education which means I am paying for it all myself. Students here do not understand the concept of not having money to go out. I have ran into several intances where I explain that I don't have money and so they offer to pay because they think I will have money in the next couple of days. They don't understand that if I don't have it now, that I won't have it for awhile. It is aggrevating at times but I knew that would happen before I came to the school. I see there are more people here that do have money than the amount Dr. Winters let on in class. It is interesting to look at the culture of IWU. Most students have ipods, a cellphone, their own computer, and about half have a car either here or at home. It is definitly a "college" thing to have those listed above as well as a starbucks coffee in one hand and either a cell phone or books in the other hand. One of the language tools that used by college students is "whatever". It is said at least once in almost every converstation. It is quite funny to examine our behaviors and to find a norm in them.