Imagine a university campus right out of an American series. There are students stumbling upon one another, others across sprawling laws, the smell of dark coffee with no sugar lingering in the air. Before assembling in lecture halls or returning to their dorm rooms, all of this becomes the setting for late-night conversations about weekend parties, unexpected love interests, and friendships that form as effortlessly as they seem to do so on screen.
For many students all over the world, this image is what comes to mind when they think of the “American college experience”, and there has been a great deal of debate around this concept. While this has raised interesting speculations in many countries, they do not answer the questions that the masses have been eager to know: How much of this college experience exists in reality, and how much of it exists entirely in the fantasy of it all? More importantly, what does this contrast uncover about the reality of being a university student in South Africa?
To fully understand the concept of the American college fantasy, one must go through the tedious task of dissecting the origin of its name – but we are certainly not about to unpack centuries worth of archives to fully comprehend that. It is a concept born within the American film industry, centred around the prejudice of the ideal “college experience”, including parties on the left, dysfunctional relationships on the right, and barely being in class for five seconds. A good example of this would be the 2009 documentary-style reality television series College Life. In 2009, The Dean of Students, Lori Berquam commented in the UW-News that “The network’s view of campus life is not reflective of the challenges and opportunities experienced by the majority of our student body.”
This conception has led to a cultural diffusion, spreading its American roots to reach into the lives of many university students in South Africa. When asked what they first thought of the American college fantasy, responses were: “bullying”, “partying”, and “drugs”. A first-year B.Ed. student at the University of Pretoria says his first thoughts on this notion were, “hallways, dorms, societies and sports,” and that this became a blueprint of how he expected university life to be. He had always imagined coming to university and having to meet a lot of individuals who would like to be his friends, joining societies and having the best time of his life socially. Instead, his reality was quite different from what he had initially imagined. “You constantly battle to remain sane and protect your mental health due to the forever-increasing pressure from academia that you barely get time to listen and take care of yourself.”
This misconception is not just shared by South African students; it also exists among American students. Cultural writer Emma Specter from TeenVOGUE had a very interesting perspective in the 2024 article: “Why Are There So Few Good, Accurate TV Shows About College?” She said, “between classes, extracurricular activities, and sports, the average student definitely does not have a ton of time to lounge around in their dorm (that’s not decorated to perfection) and do nothing.” This highlighted a compelling view on how the American college fantasy portrays the notion of students having an abundance of time in their lives in modern film, namely the 2007 series Gossip Girl. Raise your hand if you’ve actually seen the characters attending class.
Mamoraka Sethosa, a BIS Multimedia student, had a different view on this. “I’m not sure if American college shows make university life look exciting. I think it’s a combination of everything… the bullying, substance use/abuse, and other serious issues portrayed in some of them aren’t necessarily things I’d want to experience myself.” She reflected on her own personal experience of university. “Honestly, it’s crazy because my actual experience has been a lot more complicated than I expected.” Mamoraka reflected on not only the glamour of university, but how she “struggled with [her] mental health.” And the sticky business of a relationship? They somehow forgot to mention it was quite an awkward experience. Having to learn how to balance her academics while trying not to get thrown over on the first week of the relationship proved to be a difficult endeavour.
Perhaps this is not all about whether the experience is a reality or not for every student, but about what each of them had hoped their university life would be. While this reality may be a stark contrast to what we see on television, the deep-rooted longing for freedom, friendships, and memorable experiences remains perpetual. One of the most essential points that are not highlighted within this public discourse that Mamoraka portrayed was: “Fun is always around you. Know when to attend to it and when not to. Take care of all the spheres in which you exist. But also, I strongly believe your university experience gets determined by the degree you study!”
Visual: Charney
