Chapter 3: Labor as a way to be Ready for the Future, and what is “Berea Bubble”

Hey, my name is Rinat and I am from Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Yes, I am an international student graduating in May 2025. As you may have already understood, all students in Berea College have jobs on campus where they need to work at least 10 hours a week. Freshman students do not have a privilege of choosing their labor position, meaning that for the whole year they have to clean dorms, work outside (even in winter), work on the farm, etcetera. This means that most freshmen do not get the best positions on campus. I see a strong correlation here with the real world: I doubt that you will get the CEO position in a big company right after graduation—you need to see and taste all the steps in a career ladder to get to the top. My roommate used to wake up at 6:00 a.m. 5 days a week because he was a janitor in another dorm. I am using past tense here because he dropped out. Sorry, Berea is not for everyone.