Spring Break
Under pressure
By: Melissa Appel
Issue date: 8/27/08 Section: News
"See, colleges can't control turning you into a better person," Cosby continued. "They can't do that. That's not what they're there for. They're talking about educating you. They're talking about putting a demand on you - pressure."
The pressure is a constant for anyone in college, but reaction to it and success under it is what makes us.
"The more positive pressure you put on yourself-and I mean doing the correct things, as this diamond under the correct atmosphere and environment under the earth, the pressure - the more you respond to it and do it, the better grade: A, B, C, D, E or F," he said. "And that's the beauty of being in college, is the time management during the pressure.
"You are able to look at the valedictorian, you're able to look at and be around people who are studying and people, young people, who really care and go through pains going back to a professor and saying, 'Look, I earned a higher grade. What did I do wrong?'" Cosby said. "And then you're in a society there - some people saying, 'Hey man, I got a C. I don't have to take this again.' "
The latter group may also boast students who have been the subject of one of Cosby's jokes. "What's the most difficult thing you've had to face in your four years of college? Somehow telling my parents that I'm going to graduate in five."
So the obvious question arises: in which category are you? Cosby phrased it this way, and said to think about and ask. "Aside from the dorm room, and my wardrobe, and the football game, and measuring up to others in terms of quality of hair, weight - what is college for?" he asked. "You go to college to what?"
And, just like any good reporter or lawyer, Cosby never asks a question he doesn't know the answer.
"Well, what is college there for?" Cosby asked again. "People didn't create a college so that teenagers could have a place to get away from their parents.
"In 1876, they did not say, 'We need a school so that the teenagers could get away from these parents.' 'They want to drink and come some place drunk and not have to sober up right away.' They want to be around and have nobody say, 'Well, are you going to study or what?' And so, college is this wonderful place where parents will come to graduation and be thankful that their low-achieving child made it. That's all they think - 'made it.'"
The pressure is a constant for anyone in college, but reaction to it and success under it is what makes us.
"The more positive pressure you put on yourself-and I mean doing the correct things, as this diamond under the correct atmosphere and environment under the earth, the pressure - the more you respond to it and do it, the better grade: A, B, C, D, E or F," he said. "And that's the beauty of being in college, is the time management during the pressure.
"You are able to look at the valedictorian, you're able to look at and be around people who are studying and people, young people, who really care and go through pains going back to a professor and saying, 'Look, I earned a higher grade. What did I do wrong?'" Cosby said. "And then you're in a society there - some people saying, 'Hey man, I got a C. I don't have to take this again.' "
The latter group may also boast students who have been the subject of one of Cosby's jokes. "What's the most difficult thing you've had to face in your four years of college? Somehow telling my parents that I'm going to graduate in five."
So the obvious question arises: in which category are you? Cosby phrased it this way, and said to think about and ask. "Aside from the dorm room, and my wardrobe, and the football game, and measuring up to others in terms of quality of hair, weight - what is college for?" he asked. "You go to college to what?"
And, just like any good reporter or lawyer, Cosby never asks a question he doesn't know the answer.
"Well, what is college there for?" Cosby asked again. "People didn't create a college so that teenagers could have a place to get away from their parents.
"In 1876, they did not say, 'We need a school so that the teenagers could get away from these parents.' 'They want to drink and come some place drunk and not have to sober up right away.' They want to be around and have nobody say, 'Well, are you going to study or what?' And so, college is this wonderful place where parents will come to graduation and be thankful that their low-achieving child made it. That's all they think - 'made it.'"
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