LETTER: You don’t know who’s listening

To the editor:

I was recently enjoying lunch in the food court when I could not help but overhearing a conversation from the table next to me. The students sitting at the table were talking about how drunk they got over the past weekend and it seemed every other word would have to have been bleeped out if it were a TV show. If you look on Facebook, you will see the same thing, kids happily showing off their bottles of booze while at a party. 

    About two years ago I attended a seminar about how to market yourself in the job field. The speaker said most employers will look up potential interviewees on Facebook before the interview. If they do not like what they see, you will never hear from them again. I understand that you are in college and for most students that means the first time away from home and you can now throw a party without mom and dad coming home early.  I only ask that you act like adults and not talk about how much you threw up or what girl you did over the weekend. Part of being an adult and having the privileges that go along with being on your own is to act responsibly. 

    I must make a disclaimer in my letter, I received my undergraduate degree at a small town in Southwestern Pennsylvania, this problem was much worse there than at USU, but nonetheless, as my example above shows, this still happens at Utah State.  You never know who is sitting at the table next to you or looking at your pictures online. It could be someone like me just trying to enjoy lunch or it could be a potential employer.

Joe Unger