In college, they teach you to use big words to make things sound important. If you are writing in college about the problems at GM, Ford, and Toyota, you’d write about the “automotive industry.” Today, you’d make it simple and talk about “car companies.”

In college you need to double space everything. Why was double-spacing so important back then and so never-seen today?

In college, they teach you to dress up for work and dress down for social gatherings. In the real world, you dress down for work and dress up for social gatherings. (In the one business class I took in college, they taught us how to wear a suit to do the presentation. In the 13 years since then, I have yet to ever wear a suit for work.)

In college they teach you to write papers for your professor. In the world, you need to write documents for everyone.

In college, longer papers are better. In the real world, shorter is always better.

In college, grammar is really important. In the real world, people just don’t care.

In college, they give students little autonomy over their destiny. The administration often sets the rules with little regard to students. In the real world … well, it is the same.

In college, you learn how to consume massive amounts of beer and try to find romance. In the real world, people consume massive amounts of wine and try to find romance.

In college you eat huge amounts of instant noodles and cereal. In the real world, you spend your entire paycheck on Whole Foods and tofu.

In college, you spend all your time on Facebook. In the real world, you spend all your time talking about Facebook.