iMissyRae 2.0: Attending college - obligation turned trend

Graduation --  the one day that most teens look forward to. The day that will thereby grant them their freedom. Freedom from the drama and hassle of a typical high-schooler's life. This is the one day where it doesn't matter who you are or where you came from but the day where most visualize who they will become and where they will go.

But of course, this is a more romanticized view of graduation. If I were to truly look at this day in a more realistic, teen's point of view, I would address it more as an escape from reality. Many graduating seniors would see this fateful event as a transition into a summer filled with freeloading and sleeping. I can even recall a fellow friend and senior remarking how he couldn't see himself doing anything in life besides being a bum and many of us know that college isn't an option to too many of our peers -- at least that is what it seems like.. until today!

According to the Pew Research Center, the number of those ages 18-24 are enrolling into college at an increasing rate. Compared to the mere 3.1 million who enrolled into two-year colleges in 2007, this number has risen to 3.4 million as of 2008. Though this increase doesn't seem like very much, the Pew Research Center ties this raise in numbers to the ongoing recession we are experiencing today and claims that "This new peak in college enrollment.. has had an especially large impact on young adults." (Click here for actual survey information)

So my question to you fellow readers/bloggers is why now? College hasn't always been an affordable option for those graduating from high school but it has always been an actual option. It's not entirely impossible to get into let alone apply to college so why is it that young adults are only trying now?

Does the economy have to fall apart in order for graduating high schoolers to apply to college? Has college not been a necessity in the past? Or are our generations just to apathetic to care?

Though I can't truly answer these questions without actually offending someone, I do know that I'm not gonna wait for the world to end before I apply to college -- it would be a waste of the time I spend in high school anyway.