Conform…Reform…it is now time to Perform…because we are going to talk about Forums!

Forums are a great place to find information about different topics. Now the sources may not always be 100% credible, but sometimes you will find forums where you can actually leave a question, and then a supposed expert will answer you. If I talked about that with this post, that would be incredibly boring, I’d say. So let’s talk about what all college kids have in common….college life. That’s right! These are forums provided by yours truly on college life. Now I no longer live in the dorm, and I am proud to say I am one of those twenty-seven year olds who will live with Mom until I truly grow up whenever that is. In reality, these forums have a variety of purposes, for better or for worse.

College Confidential (http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/) is a great place to find the inside info when applying to schools around the country. I think it is great for both kids and parents, even though parents or sons and daughters alike may not want the other to know what he or she knows (for instance the best party schools and all), but there really are some usual tidbits here for those who are about to graduate from high school.

CollegeNet (http://www.collegenet.com/elect/app/app?service=external/Forum&sp=S4898) talks about several random subjects that may come up while in college….more about life more so than the admissions criteria for your favorite traditional university. For instance, I read about an adult who was 52 asking if that was indeed too old to go back to school. Another student was giving advice to others on how to balance a hectic schedule. Perhaps graduate students in the Communication and Journalism program at Auburn University should add to this one, especially after partaking in comps week. We certainly know how to balance, as long as it does not involve sleep.

Moving on already, TheForumSite (http://www.theforumsite.com/forum/list/College-Life/90) offers forums on many things, but it also has a section specifically just for college life. I must admit some of the subject matter is rather hilarious. Someone is asking about UFO encounters. Another person is announcing a pajama party. That sounds interesting. One person is writing about how much books and college in its entirety is a “rip-off.” It rather expensive, unless you are a GTA, I guess. Another person is asking for advice because he or she hates her major.

As you can see, there are all kinds of forums specifically geared just for college life. The forum becomes interactive in the fact that you choose you want to read, and you choose what you want to write. In fact, there are probably so many topics you will not have time to read and write about all of them unless you do this for a job or something or better yet, a class :)

It would not be fair unless I gave an academic definition of forum before I closed this post of wise wisdom. Because it is the most credible source provided on the Internet, Webopedia.com defines a forum as the following:

“An online discussion group. Online services and bulletin board services (BBS's) provide a variety of forums, in which participants with common interests can exchange open messages. Forums are sometimes called newsgroups (in the Internet world) or conferences.”

Forums almost act as common communities where people with similar interests come together to discuss. In the instances of this entry, that would be college life. Keep readings because more exciting entries in the life of James L. Cartee, the 3rd are bound to come in overwhelming forms.