C.S. Lewis is one of my favorite authors and I've been applying a lot of what he says to my life. As a college student myself, his words have helped me get through a lot of struggles.
1. "You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream."
You are likely in college to achieve a goal or to pursue a dream. It is okay for you to change your mind several times about anything; your major, what you want to be when you grow up, your significant other, etc.
2. “Each day we are becoming a creature of splendid glory or one of unthinkable horror.”
Source: “Mere Christianity”
You get to decide who you want to be. College is a time where you can completely remake yourself if you so choose, make you a good you.
3. "The task of the modern educator is not to cut down jungles but to irrigate deserts."
Source: “The Abolition of Man”
In high school, we remember a lot of our teachers doing their absolute best to shape us into cookie cutter students. A lot of us will have rebelled against that because people don't fit into cookie cutter shapes. While at college, your professors will celebrate your differences from other students.
4. “The truth is, of course, that what one regards as interruptions are precisely one's life.”
Source: “Collected Works of C. S. Lewis”
You know that night when you were sitting in your room studying for a quiz in a class the next day and, of course, someone knocked on your door? Well, the next phase of your life could be waiting for you on the other side of the door, you just have to open it.
5. "To love at all is to be vulnerable"
Source: “The Four Loves”
Many people find the person they want to spend the rest of their lives with while they're at college. Keep in mind, when you fall in love, you are opening yourself up to someone and trusting them with every part of yourself and that's okay, even if it is scary sometimes.
6. “Isn't it funny how day by day nothing changes, but when you look back, everything is different...”
Source: “Prince Caspian”
If there is something you are trying to change in your life, you might be succeeding a little bit at a time and just can't see it. Don't give up, big things are happening in your life.
7. "Forgiveness does not mean excusing"
Source: “Fern Seed and Elephants”
When someone does something absolutely horrific to you, forgive them. It doesn't mean that what they did is okay or acceptable, but it will take a great deal of weight off of you and your quality of life will greatly increase.
8. “What you see and what you hear depends a great deal on where you are standing. It also depends on what sort of person you are.”
Source: “The Magician's Nephew”
Learn to look at an issue from a point of view that is different than your own. Once you learn how to do this, you will get into far fewer arguments and it will make you at least seem like a better person.
9. "Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less."
Source: “Mere Christianity"
College is a time where you're celebrating who you are and learning to take care of yourself, but keep in mind that you live in a world with other people who matter and have a purpose, just like you.
10. "Don't let your happiness depend on something you may lose."
Source: “The Four Loves”
The world we live in will try and take away any form of happiness you may acquire. Don't make it easy for them. Learn to be and make your own happy ending.
