It's been pretty well-documented on here that, since this little spot on the internet got going in 2012, I've been asked to write for various other places. Mostly it's been once or twice, sometimes just a comment to go in a larger article. Sometimes it's been a bit more permanent than that and I've been asked to be a contributor to some website or another, usually purporting itself as 'student entertainment'.
I hope the quotation marks give you a good idea of how I feel about that as a category.
I won't pretend I wasn't flattered or excited when I joined these projects, or that I didn't keep them up (though some longer than others). It quickly became the case though that I realised that I wasn't a good fit for these sites, and they wanted something from me that I couldn't give them. They wanted a stereotypical student experience that I couldn't relate to, and it's pretty difficult to write about something you never really had, particularly when you're trying to do the whole 'it's funny because it's true' shindig.
It wasn't just because I didn't drink and I always had enough money because I worked, or that I did know what the real world was like because I'd already had a full time job. I mean it was partly that, and if you look at the majority of stuff that comes out of these sites it does centre largely on those premises. It was because I didn't experience university during my undergrad years as some sort of non-stop party and at times it was incredibly hard and really lonely and at times I felt pretty defeated.
It was in large part because I can only really accurately remember feeling settled in my second year and the two years after that had me in flux a lot of the time.
I was excited to graduate and get out and re-settle somewhere else. I was right to be excited because I've felt more secure since October here than I had done at any point previously since 2012.
My problem wasn't just this though.
My atypical student experience would have been great writing fodder if anyone had wanted anything that wasn't about getting trashed and having no money.
It was because the stuff these sites wanted had no more depth to it than that, and I happen to think we're all better than that.
First off it wasn't helping me improve my writing skills, because everything (and I mean everything) had to be in list format. I don't write in list format day to day, I don't know anyone who does. Even people who don't write for a living or for study usually write in full sentences and paragraphs. So I like to think that if what you're writing is interesting enough you'll probably be able to write it in prose and everyone's going to be able to deal with that.I don't like that it played into the idea that students, and young people generally, have such short attention spans that we have to reduce everything down to bare bones to provide them with anything.
I also didn't appreciate the implication that if it isn't about being a student, or some super super relevant pop culture reference, no one would care. That implication was made loud and clear to me when I had basically everything refused by the most recent website I was asked to contribute to. That's when I decided to quit.
It was because I don't want students and young people to be reduced down to binge-drinking morons who can't get their shit together. Most of the people I know aren't like that, I'm not like that. Also no one has their shit together so pretending that's eventually going to be alleviated when you reach the hallowed plane of 'adulthood' is just straight up misleading.I don't like that student websites are inherently exclusionary if you don't live in halls/shared rented housing, or you study part time, or you enjoy your subject, or you're fairly organised, or you don't have that many friends. I don't like that they're exclusionary if you're not a student in the right way or not a student at all.
As with most things online I'm starting to get a little bit sick of being made to feel like I'm not living properly or 'to the full' because different things bring me contentment. I didn't want other people to feel like that, I want to write about shared experiences we all have, and things everyone finds interesting because they're interesting full stop. Not to further the creation of a student archetype that we can all laugh along with even though no one really fits into it.
This isn't just a rant about me having my work refused, I had it published elsewhere on another site I no longer write for. I umm'ed and ahh'ed for a while before I emailed around and closed all my login accounts. I still wonder from an exposure point of view if it was really the right decision. From a personal fit point of view it was never really a question.
Xx
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