Johnson State College

I graduated JSC within the last 10 years. As I am older and wiser, I do want to talk about my experiences publicly for anyone who wishes to decide if this is the best school to attend college.

There are professors with a lack of political correctness. In my case, I had professors tell other staff members publicly that I have Asperger Syndrome, when I have never been diagnosed with that. I am multiethnic and I had two professors refer to me a their 'Hispanic Student' in their classes and amongst staff members too, and they have also told me to either turn in papers about 'being Hispanic in America.' One of the professors that I had an issue with was forced into retirement from series of complaints by many students, and this professor also had issues with punching tables and swearing loudly at students thinking it will motivate them.

I remember doing a controversial project about racism. And I had a professor think that I was African American and said things as, what if someone said n***** to you or showed a rope for lynching in their own artwork?—I do think some professors are racially out of touch, and there needs to be a seminar on how to respect students. You cannot encourage students to focus issues of their race, say things like 'my Black student, my Hispanic student, my Autistic Student, etc.'

I have had no problem with sanitation. The campus is very clean by the grounds and custodial staff.

They had ARAMARK food service when I was in college and there was many problems with professionalism and food sanitation. They over priced food in their grocery store, like selling Trix cereal for $7.00. Some staff members would curse in public, yell at students for taking too much food at a buffet and not be sympathetic to students who wanted to get something quick when the kitchen is about to close for the night. When they made omelets, whatever toppings fell on to their cooking stations and not in their omelet pans, they picked up those toppings off the table and put it back into the omelet pan for you to eat. While, some staff members are polite, some rudely expect you to say please and 'thank you' every single time. One time, a person was asked to quit for closing the ARAMARK school store during operation hours, to go on long smoke breaks. There has issues been of gratuitous workplace violence, workplace bullying, yelling in public, lack of sanitary conditions at that ARAMARK job and swearing about employees and swearing about students hired as employees on the job in public. The job is understaffed and most plastic cups come out cloudy with dish detergent, and some plates come out with old cheese and gum attached to it. One time at a catering event, the president of the college delivered a speech, and made an insulting joke about the quality of ARAMARK food, and never apologized for it though she was booed by many people who were not ARAMARK employees.

Student life has been mostly a good experience for me and dorms a very sanitary. However, there are many problems with college discipline being permissive. I had a roommate that was violent with me and the college lacked to give us separate rooms, and I had to sleep outside my dorm, and felt I needed wear a cell phone and items to defend myself from him. There was a flood many years ago and I was not reimbursed for items covered in sewage, some people were not reimbursed for their laptops. Also, the hall advisor had to unplug your refrigerators during break, to save the campus money, and your were left with throwing away food, moldy refrigerators and not supplied with anything immediate to clean up the mold. There has been issues drunk students assaulting people, being arrested on campus, smearing body waste on people's doors, females leaving bloody feminine products in unisex bathrooms and tubs, and one time their was an unresolved issue with a hall-advisor bringing over his girlfriend and them being very loud and verbally graphic in his dorm room during all times of the day and night having sex.

The biggest I learned, especially since I have worked at many different college through out my life is that students need to know how colleges work. Colleges are corporations and they welcome you in their as first year students and later disregard you, you are just a tuition fee. Most professors are there to collect a pension, network with their friends and share faculty jobs with anyone in their clique. When you go to college, you need to get your education and have fun, and also volunteer, intern and look for a full-time career. Most colleges will not teach you this and not prepare you for the real world, also most of them are not sympathetic to helping out students after college; it becomes a revolving door. You have to learn how to take care of yourself in college and then after college, because mostly the only time you will get call from anything Johnson State College after 4 years is from a legit or fraudulent debt collector, or someone asking for donations.

College is what you make of it. I was able to get two degrees and advance my life in many ways. I have gained a lot of self-confidence and I also learned how to educate myself independently in and outside of college. Even with the significant issues, and I needed to get some counseling to talk about some of these problems, it is not worse than most colleges—every college has levels of unprofessionalism and so does any place you will be involved with in your life. The biggest thing is prepare for your future in and outside of college, do not be na?ve. Johnson State College, like all colleges are businesses, most people are there for state job pay, state job benefits and state job pensions, so you have to not be blind to this and grow to understand and grow to develop the best ways to take care of yourself. Nobody is going to take care of you or care about you, more than you can.