The Five Year Old Syndrome

College students do not ask for much and get very few rewards.  They study as hard as possible to please professors, parents and impress their peers with near perfect grades.  They go to the end of the earth to do this by sleep depriving themselves as well as ridding their lives of as much fun as humanly possible.  The life of the typical college student revolves around studying, sleeping and eating (in that order of importance).  As well-oiled as the college student are there is a major flaw in the brain of a college student.  The thought process of a college student is similar to that of a five year old. 

When a five year-old hears the possibility of a reward such as ice cream (assume said five year-old loves ice cream).  The five year-old becomes obsessed with the possibility of ice cream.  It disrupts there thought process and good behavior until they receive the reward of ice cream. And if the reward is never received the five year old becomes angry and difficult to deal with.  When five year-olds become difficult to deal with spankings are used (if you believe in disciplining a five year-old with spankings that is).  No one wants to spank a five year old because society will frown upon it.

Now a similar effect happens with the hard working college student when a reward is dangled in front of them and is not achieved.  It disrupts their thought process until they know for a fact the reward is achieved.  In this case lets say the thought of a canceled class is presented to a class of college freshmen.  All these hopeful freshmen in their minds already have it planned out in their heads how they will spend the extra hour they get from a canceled class.  If their plans are unable to happen then this causes the hard working and much deserving college student to go into a state of depression.  If said college student goes into a depression then the possibilities are endless of the negative things that might happen.  No one wants to cause the hard working college student unneeded stress from getting there hopes up just have them smashed and taken away.

So in conclusion college students must have a reward when the idea of said reward is spoken of.  Because as it stands all a college student has to look forward to is more work.  The possibility of a canceled class is too great in a college students mind to leave unfilled.