Misconceptions When You Come from a Prestigious School (Part 2)

Welcome to Part 2! If you haven’t read Part 1 yet, might as well read it first. *wink wink* But if you feel like starting with Part 2 then part 1, uh okay? You do you anyways lol. So, here it is! 

#5 PARTY PEOPLE

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Well this is true to some. My best friend used to drunk text me while I was waiting for a ride home and she was drinking beer on the other end. I had batch mates who partied so hard in college to the point of coming to class drunk (one also had to do a class report while she was drunk). But not all of them partied hard and rather drank occasionally (my 19-year old self is also waving). Having tried booze in college is no accomplishment, but at least you won’t have to be ignorant how alcohol tastes like. Though being in college doesn’t necessarily mean you have to try partying or drinking booze just to feel like you are in college.

“Brainy students are not usually geeky, but ones who are interactive and party people since I knew some of them who partied because they were stressed.” –M

#6 ONLY 5% OF THE POPULATION LIVE UP TO BEING IN CATHOLIC SCHOOL

True story, just because you come from a Catholic school, that doesn’t mean you’re so holy and religious. Not everyone is Catholic either. 

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I had a friend who was an atheist, coming from a religious family. I had conservative friends. I knew some people who were quite wild and liberated. As a matter of fact, some of them engaged in premarital sex. But we can never judge, people have their own choices. And the school doesn’t define those choices.

“No matter how good the overall name or brand is, we can never generalize that it is true to all its parts. That is a fallacy of division. But one thing is for sure, the school has a good formation overall. But it’s up to the student to follow its formation or not.” –J 

#7 PRIORITIZED IN JOB APPLICATIONS

“My former superior was actually skeptic when it comes to Carolinians, thinking they don’t last long in the job they applied for. He was even skeptic to hire me because I’m a Carolinian.” –R 

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When I was applying for an ESL company (and truth be told, it wasn’t even easy to get past the initial screening). Not to brag or something, but I was asked for a demo the next day even when I failed the auditory exam since my written exam was really high and that the boss actually liked my accent (char). And I was the only one left among the many applicants that day (one of them was even from UP).

The next day I was waiting for my turn when a walk-in applicant came in with me. We were talking casually until she asked the million-dollar question: asa ka na school gikan? (which school are you from?). I shyly responded where, and she had this anime-like reaction, she faced away from me while murmuring to herself: ahw dawat naka dayun oi (oh, you’ll get accepted right away). It actually felt awkward that I had to tell her that it wasn’t even sure yet. I even failed the final interview because of my responses and how they were skeptic with my age (I was 21). But I got truly accepted from my last job because of my own hard work not because of the school I came from, not even with anybody’s help.

As you can see, Carolinians or non-Carolinians also get rejected from certain job applications. 

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“Yes, there were stereotypes given to me because I’m a USC graduate. That’s a given since that’s the brand of the school you came from. I remember our president in Philo, he told our dean’s mom before, “Sorry I won’t let your son graduate because he didn’t pass our standard here in Philosophy.” That was regarding his thesis.

There are times that its annoying. But there are times we can use that as an advantage. In my case, I only applied for a job once and got hired immediately. Unlike my friends that took months and even years of application before they got hired. Why? I knew there’s and impression on me because of the school I graduated from. I took that bias as my tool so I can feel confident on my interview and demo. And I think, it really helped. Well of course it’s a given that I should perform well too, but at least it’s not that hard since I have the advantage on the school itself.” –J 

#8 KNOW-IT-ALL

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Carolinian or not, there will always be people who are know-it-all. On the first job I got, there was a colleague who badmouthed me behind my back just because I gave a bad comment to the chairman regarding her behavior (when in fact I didn’t go all out, it was my other colleague who did). I got mistaken to be know-it-all, especially when they’ve heard which school I came from. I would also get these antagonizing looks that seemed to say something like “that was the one who gave a bad comment on blah blah.” You really can’t please everybody lol.

I didn’t even act all knowing when I was on my last job. I even felt dumb when there were certain things that made me feel like I’ve lost my logic lol. I don’t even like stepping up on certain roles unless I get assigned with them, sometimes I even complained while doing that role ooops.

“My workmates think that we’re know-it-all or “epal,” when in fact my fellow Carolinians and I were just tryna do our work properly and keep it low-key while the real “epal” were our non-Carolinian workmates.” –D

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#9 SERIOUS AND STUDIOUS KIND OF PEOPLE

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I thought this was true, but in reality, Carolinians are a variety of people, just like any other students from other schools. Some are real serious and studious, but there are a bunch of them who are also chill and crazy. Some are fashionistas, some are just tryna get by in life. Some tryna keep themselves low key while some really want attention. So you see, we consist of a hundred faces and personalities.

“I thought coming from USC meant people are too serious. But when I got in, it’s not true at all hahaha lot of people are actually crazy and fun to be with.” –K

I’m pretty sure that other schools also experience different stereotypes and misconceptions. Coming from a prestigious school doesn’t really mean we’re different from other people, it’s just that our school happens to be prestigious. It does mold us into certain individuals, but doesn’t mean the school defines us. Even if there are advantages or disadvantages, at the end of the day, what matters most is your attitude, your genuineness and how you treat others. Because no matter how prestigious your school is, if you’re rotten inside no educational background can redeem that.

Writer, 

Thin Girl Writes