Sitting back and listening...

I'm currently visiting my family in Austria. The other day we were hanging out with our neighbors; I didn't talk much...just sat back and watched. And the more I listened the more I felt like an outsider. I used to be really close with them - I used to be able to have a conversation with them. Now I just sit and listen because saying anything just isn't worth it.

Nevertheless I didn't manage to make it through the evening without at least one snide remark about my job. One of them commented on the "babysitting of college students" in the US. Okay, so granted - I struggle with the customer-service approach that we're sometimes forced to adopt in Student Affairs, but I believe in the general idea of Student Affairs. It's not "babysitting" students - we try to educate them, support them during their time at college but also challenge them to learn and grow.
I sometimes wonder what retention rates in Austria were like if we had something like Student Affairs. Retention isn't really a concern here - after all, universities are mostly funded by the government (with a few student fees but nothing really significant), so who cares how many students make it through the first few exams. Okay, so maybe college isn't for everyone - but there are more students who could make it through college if they just had a little extra support.
And then what about the "challenges" we try to provide for our students? I watch my Austrian friends and I see them now, after they've left college, slowly discovering what they believe and what they think - moving toward self-authorship. And yes, I still have a lot of learning and growing to do but college definitely pushed me, at least got me to start thinking. And yes, I was one of those students who attended programs and had conversations about diversity and multiculturalism and education and all those other fabulous topics - and not all students do - but isn't it worth it even if we just educate a few of them?

What drives me insane is that I don't even think they'd listen - like really listen (meaning "being open to a different opinion") - if I tried to explain it. They're so stuck in their own ways, stuck in the belief that their college experience was all that and they aren't even willing to see the worth of a different way of approaching education - or maybe learning something outside of the classroom - shocking thought, huh?
But I'd just be talking to myself. So I sit back and I listen and I smile, even though my blood boils and I feel like they're questioning my whole existence.