For some reason, I often hear “take advantage of every day of high school, you’re going to miss it one day.” Why would you miss it though? It’s just one step you have to survive to get to the fun part of life; college. Sure, you make a lot of friends in high school and start to find yourself, but you’re still a kid and have basically no independence. College, however, is the real deal. Here are 12 reasons college really is beyond better than high school.
1. You don’t have to ask permission to go places.
In high school, you constantly have to ask your parents if you can go somewhere, hang out with a certain group of friends, go to a party, and go out to eat after a school dance. If your parents say no, there’s really nothing you can do without getting yourself in trouble. In college, you’re on your own free will. You want to go to a party on a Wednesday? Go for it. You want to go to the zoo with a couple of friends? Have at it. It’s amazing and beyond freeing.
2. You don’t have to be home at a certain hour.
I’m sure almost all of us had a curfew in high school. We all had to be home at certain times after social gatherings and we booked it to get there before then because we knew our parents were waiting up to see if we would break it. It was a struggle and was frustrating at times, but once you get to college, you have free reign. Staying up until 3:00 in the morning to finish homework or study? That’s a normal thing. Staying out with your friends until the wee hours of the morning? One of the best experiences. It’s up to you how much sleep you get, if any, and you can do what you want with your nights.
3. You can go weird places at random times and it doesn’t matter.
In high school, if you wanted to go to Walmart at 2:00 a.m. to get ice cream, your parents would look at you like you’re crazy and ask why the heck you even woke them to ask that question. In college, go for it. You want to go eat in the middle of the night? Why not? You want to take a road trip to the aquarium or a random baseball game on a Monday? More power to you.
4. You don’t have to worry about the whole town knowing your mistakes.
If you come from a small town, you know what I’m talking about. If you make a mistake or get into trouble, the entire town knows. Parents, preachers, restraurant workers, teachers, legit everyone knows everything about your life. Assuming we all at least got a little bit of distance from home (I made it a whopping 20 minutes away), you now don’t have to worry about it. You’re in your own little community, and while all of those people might know what you’ve been up to, all those others people in your hometown don’t have a clue. It’s nice to be able to get away and not have everyone you’ve known your entire life always up in your business.
5. You can sleep anywhere.
In high school, if you didn’t come home on a Friday night, your parents would absolutely flip out, and rightfully so, as they are responsible for you and your whereabouts. In college, if you go to a friend’s house to hang out (guy or girl) and you just don’t feel like walking or driving back, you can crash there and no one is going to freak out or call the cops. A simple text to your roommate to let them know you’re alive is really all it takes and you can crash wherever. It’s nice to have to worry about getting home all the time and lets you relax and have fun.
6.Your parents don’t know when you’re procrastinating or being lazy.
College is all about being self-driven and getting your work done without having to be told. That doesn’t mean that we college students don’t procrastinate every once in a while (okay, a lot of the time). Here, though, we don’t have parents on our back to get our work done or checking online to look at our grades. It’s nice to have this independence and have the opportunity to prove to our parents that we can take care of business without being told 10 times a day to do our homework.
7.You get your own space (for the most part) and can decorate how you want.
If you’re like me, my room at home has looked the same for a very long time. I didn’t really care enough to try to redecorate, as it costs a lot of money and requires a lot of work. In college, however, you get the chance each year to move in to a new place and make it your own. You can buy that bean bag chair you’ve always wanted and plaster your wall with pictures. It’s so nice to have more of your own space and own belongings and be responsible for them.
8.You make your real friends.
Sure, high school friends are great because you’ve known them for so long and you have this special type of bond. You survived some really tough and awkward years with them, which is something that can never be replaced. What are the odds, though; that all of these friends are the ones you’re really going to want in your wedding or to grow old with? Do you see these friendships standing the tests of distance? When you get to college, you get the opportunity to create friendships with people from different cultures and backgrounds, all of whom have their own unique stories. The bonds you have in college are so strong because of the struggles you will endure together. College is where you truly find who you are and who you want to be, and the people who are with you on this journey will most likely be those people you’ll be sitting at McDonald’s with in 50 years, talking about the good ole days.
9. You’re basically a grown up, without the financial responsibility.
College is this kind of weird in-between phase of life. It’s kind of like you’re an adult, but you’re not really one and it’s pretty awesome. You get to be independent and make your own decisions, but you probably don’t have to worry about paying the bills or making car payments or going to work full time. High school, however, you’re definitely still a kid. You think you’re “mature” and independent, but you’re definitely not and you still completely rely on your parents for everything. It’s not a bad thing, but college independence is much more real and I wish I could stay in this limbo stage of life a lot longer.
10. You don’t have as many classes.
High school classes suck. It’s pretty plain and simple. You have to go to at least 5 classes every day for a pretty long amount of time and then wait for a bell to dismiss you to the next room. It’s not fun and is kind of reminiscent of how inmates are treated. In college, however, you don’t take as many classes. Or if you do still take at least five classes, you don’t have each one every day. You have more time to do your homework in between because of this, and have less subjects to cover each day.
11. You make your own schedule.
In high school, you’re basically dictated to take certain classes and choose a certain track, which leaves a minimal amount of room for what you want to take. You have to arrive at school by 8:00 in the morning and don’t get to leave until 3. Everything is structured for you, including where and when you can eat, and you don’t really get choices in anything. In college, however, your schedule is up for your own making. You choose what classes you want to take, at what hour you want to take them, and can collaborate with your friends to make sure you’re in the same ones sometimes. If you aren’t a morning person, you can schedule classes later in the day. If you absolutely hate art, you never have to take an art class. You choose your major, your minor, and all electives in between.
12. You’re in control of your life.
The best part about college is that it’s all up to you. Whatever you do, it is your decision. It is your responsibility to make the right ones and have the best experience you can. It’s not up to your parents, your teachers, or anyone else to tell you to do anything. It’s a lot more independence than high school, but if you treat it right, then college truly will be amazing for you.
