University is a special place because there are so many unique events and environments the individual is facing. After the regular K-12 years of education, the person finally advances to the next level in their academic studies. But to think university only of educational experience could be one of the most dangerous mistakes about the life cycle of an individual.
The first ten years of an individual is mainly affected by their birth tendencies and their close ones (mostly and generally with the family unit). In those years, the individual is taught some skills to mainly deal with interpersonal communication and coping skills. Because of their young age, the individual is bound to the caregivers and has to comply with their expectations, even if sometimes that is not healthy (because caregivers are not healthy). Under those circumstances, the individual finds some ways to cope with those expectations. As a pure, natural entity, the individual is introduced to the synthetic world of interpersonal drama.
At the high school, the individual gains a degree of freedom. They are more free to take some actions for themselves now. The identity of the individual starts to shine distinctly from their caregivers. In those years, with pubertal development, an individual gains a tune increase in some other urges as well. The individual now also has to cope with those instinctual desires.
Up until that point, The individual gains an inventory of how to deal with recipes for life. From interpersonal relationships to work, anxiety to life. The distilled experience of the individual sets some very core values and attitudes toward life. Be it healthy, reduced, incomplete or wise.
And then, the university starts if the individual has been given a chance to attend.
The individual usually arrives in another country or city away from their caregivers. It is at this point that the individual has to rely on themselves. So, they slowly strengthen their past dealing methods with life and their attitudes toward life. This is important because, at this point, the character starts to crystallize. The individual also brings their own interpersonal drama, if present, to their university life. From this point, the challenge begins. The conflict of either sticking to their past solution methods or developing new ones, hopefully, better.
During those university years, all of the previously acquired experiences and insights are challenged. There are two orthogonal directions an individual can take:
Sticking with the old solutions of life.
Trying to refine a better solution set for life
The individuals who choose the first option rely on their past more than the feedback given to them in the present. They insist that their past solutions are quite right and the world will eventually show them they are right. All the friction is seen as “noise”, and the individual cannot change their disposition because they believe they are right, only to shadow all of their insecurities. The university passes with this mindset. All of their past virtues, values and beliefs either stay the same or become more radical and unchanging.
The individuals who choose the second option are quite challenged at first; they see their dispositions are not as right as they thought. They have to come up with better solutions to life’s problems. This is a painful process, like trying to cross a dangerous jungle while trying to map the surroundings. Sometimes, the individual hit their head against a branch while trying to sketch a map, and sometimes, without knowing, they fall from a cliff. But eventually, they know there is a tree there and a cliff overhead. They refine and set their expectations accordingly, which tunes them to reality. They usually change their worldview, even their fundamental values and attitudes toward life. The person faces themselves. They are burned but are reborn like a phoenix. Now, they are ready to transcend whatever the jungle has for them ahead.
So, the importance of a university is that the place is a turning point for an individual. They either break themselves of their past selves and ascend above all those, or they just become more radical and inflexible as a result. The importance of university and probably the most valuable thing it can offer to the individual is to invite them to explore potentialities that they have never known before. To challenge them, to become not a better version of themselves, but set ways to explore to deal with reality with courage and confidence, always learning and exploring as the individual goes.
Socrates once said an unquestioned life was not worth living. So, the importance of university is setting the stage for a life worth living.
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