As a subculture in America, college students are very unique. The group that I studied, of which I focused on a core group of around forty to fifty eighteen-year to twenty-year old males and females of a variety of ethnicities, displays behavior that is not seen in any other major subculture. Though the difference is quite apparent, the reason for it is more ambiguous. Could it be that college itself is the reason? Or could it be that just separation from family caused these changes? Or is it some other reason? Based on my observations of and my interviews with a group of college students, I will attempt to fully describe and then finally determine the main reason for their behaviors and beliefs.
I went about collecting my data in two ways. The first was through participant observation, which included talking with and participating in the activities of a group of college students. Using this method, I collected raw data and observations of some of the unique behavior exhibited by the group. The other method was through interviewing a few key informants. This method allowed me to get some specific information from an insider’s view that helped me analyze the data collected by the previous method.
 I also had the chance to observe an analogous group of individuals that, though they shared some of the characteristics of the college subculture, had an entirely different system of behavior and beliefs than my main group of study. This other group, that of eighteen to twenty-year old individuals who do not attend college, offered me a unique opportunity to make comparisons to my group. The twenty individuals that I observed from this group all lived in the city of Morgan Hill, California. I did some participant observation, and interviewed a few of them, but I did not, however establish any informants in this group because I was not interested in their motives for their behaviors. I was only interested in the behavior itself so that I could use it in my comparison.
My informants were carefully selected for their knowledge of and involvement in the activities of the group. Another criterion was that they had to be close to the “norm” which I found in my observations. I then found seven individuals that fit these stipulations, three females, and four males. Of these seven, only three were considered to be key informants, and most of my information was gained from them. The first, whom I will call “A”, is an eighteen- year old Caucasian female. She was the most important informant because I have a very comfortable relationship with her, and that allowed me to obtain very specific details and elaborate responses from her. The next informant, whom I will call “B”, is a nineteen-year Caucasian female. I had been friends with her before my interview, and this made it easier to establish a good rapport with her. My last key informant is an eighteen-year old Caucasian male whom I will call “C”. I established communication with him very soon after finishing my observation, and became good friends with him. This relationship made him extremely important in my efforts to analyze my observations and other data. All of the interviews were done in a casual setting, and were done in an informal fashion.
I focused my observations in the areas that seemed to be both important and distinct to college life. These areas are religion and racial issues, drug and alcohol use, and daily schedule and recreational activities. I observed general behavior in those fields, and then relied on my informants to explain the reasoning and feelings behind those behaviors. I also used the data from the non-college student group as a control to see how much the behavior of the college group differed.
The first topics that showed characteristics unique to the college student subculture are the matters of race relations and religion. Most of the students whom I observed didn’t regularly practice a religion; for example, although one might be Christian, they did not go to church regularly. In my observation, a typical member of the group did not really consider the factors of religion or race when making friends or entering into other relationships. It was, in fact, quite the opposite. It seemed that they typically enjoyed meeting people of other religions and races, and I observed many discussions where two people of different religions and/or ethnic backgrounds compared their lives and beliefs. “A” told me that she felt that most people in the group were very interested in finding out new things, and that difference was actually considered to be a very good thing. In my interview with “C”, he mentioned that most members of the group had always felt that way, and that it really wasn’t something that had changed since coming to college. He then went on to say, however, that even though the general feeling may have always been there, it became more pronounced and important to people after coming to college. It is interesting to note, however, that religion and race were higher factors in determining personal relationships in the non-college student group. This may be important because it shows that openness to new things may be a determining trait of the college student subculture as a whole.
A very important aspect of the college student group is their feelings on, and usage of alcohol and recreational drugs. In my observation, I observed their usage of these substances as a way to have fun. Alcohol and drugs are used for recreation on the weekends in particular, and even though not everyone uses them, those that don’t are not at all opposed to it. It is not uncommon to see a group that consists of those that drink and a group of those that don’t intermingling at a social gathering without one group looking down on the other because of the others beliefs. In my interviews with “A”, “B”, and “C”, they all told me that the general view in the group is that the usage of alcohol and recreational drugs was fine if one used them responsibly. But as soon as someone abused them, the others no longer tolerated it, and there might be some confrontation. In addition, they told me that drinking was generally tolerated more than drug use. The group of non-college students did not drink or take recreational drugs as often as the college students. It did not seem as generally accepted by them as it is by the college students either. “C” told me that his beliefs on the use of such substances had changed drastically since she had come to college. He said that it had become a much more commonplace activity and that it was not really a big deal to people. He also told me that most people that he knew had changed their views on the subject as well. This is also a unique attribute to the subculture.
Some other behaviors of the college student group that are singular are apparent in the typical daily activities of a member of the group. Something that I observed was that the hours of sleeping and waking were incredibly different than those of the non-college student group. While the non-college people generally went to bed between 11:00PM and 1:00AM, and woke between 7:00 and 10:00AM, the college students usually went to sleep between 12:00 and 4:00AM, and woke between 10:00AM and 1:00PM. This difference coincided with the general study times of the college students who tended to study late into the night. This assumption was reinforced by “A” who told me that generally members of the group stayed up later because of the amount of work that they had to do. Another interesting fact was that almost none of the students I observed either read the newspaper or watched news on television. “C” told me that he used to always follow the news somehow, but that it just hadn’t been important to him since he had come to college. This was generally the case for everyone else as well, he said. The college students had also changed their recreational activities. The group that wasn’t at college did things like playing sports, watching television, and doing things on the weekends with friends. The activities of the college students, however, also included things like going to parties, listening to music, using computers as entertainment, drinking and taking drugs for recreation, and as “B” said, “doing anything even remotely entertaining, no matter how stupid it may look to others”. She also told me that her whole concept of entertainment had changed since she had been at college. She now did things for fun that she never would have dreamed of doing before. Both “A” and “B” told me similar things, and they all agreed that most everybody had changed in what they considered to be typical daily activities.
When asked what was the thing that most changed since they had come to college, almost every one I interviewed said that it was the amount of freedom and responsibility. It seems that this new found freedom, coupled with an especially tolerant and diverse environment are the determining factors for unique behaviors displayed by the college student subculture.  They have left someplace which they have known and been comfortable with for a long time, and have been thrown headlong into a new situation. New experiences and striving to fit in have changed their perspectives on a variety of issues on which they once held strong opinions. In addition to these new ideas, they have adopted new ways of behaving. These two areas of change are very interrelated, and my study shows that they are a direct result of simply coming to college. Therefore, I believe that college itself and the new type of life it demands are the determining factors for the uniqueness of the subculture of college students.
My investigation of this phenomenon was fairly in depth, but given the chance to do it again, I would like to have been able to observe students at several institutions of higher education. This way, I could have observed a larger cross section of students and my data could have been more accurate. I would also have liked to find more informants. As it is, my data can only be considered relevant to one college: U.C. Davis. But, if one assumes that all college students share these characteristics,  this study may be applied to the group as a whole.  If that is the case, then the findings presented here are very important to all involved in the college experience.