Get ready for the highest highs and the lowest lows, and embrace every single one of them.
Dear Class of 2020,
Are you ready for college? I hope the answer is "yes" because it is just a short few weeks before you will be moving into your dorms and experiencing an entirely new life. You will be independent in a way that most of you have not experienced. You will have to motivate yourself to get up for that dreaded 8 a.m. class on Friday after a fun Thursday night out. You will have to provide food for yourself above the dining hall food because, let’s be honest, as good as that food was during orientation, it probably won’t be the same until the Class of 2021’s orientations. With all of these new responsibilities, however, comes a whole realm of life you may have "known" about but didn’t really know.
In a few short weeks you will start your life. Not your parents’ lives. Not your teachers’ lives. Not your siblings’ lives. But your lives. You will be independent and it will be oh so exciting. But don’t forget, it will also be terrifying. There will be moments where it will seem like life is getting to you. There will be times where you don’t think it could get any worse and then another ball will drop. It will be emotionally and physically straining but it will all be rewarding. All the lows that you experience will set you up for success in the future. It may not seem like it now, but I promise you, the strength you show in these difficult times will help you! You will be more equip to communicate with others because of that bad roommate experience you had freshman year of college. You will learn to ask for help when you need it because of that class you struggled in your freshman year of college. You will learn so much and you will grow so much as a person because of the lowest lows you experience.
And just because you have all of these lows does not mean that you won’t have the highest highs. Sometimes, whether we realize it at the time or not, the lowest lows we experience actually push us into our highest highs. That bad roommate experience? It could lead you to join a club or a sorority or a fraternity that saves you from that experience. That club or sorority or fraternity you join could become your happy place, your safe place because of the lows you experience. The class you struggled in more than you have ever struggled may lead you to take a class you never thought you would take. It may show you that your passions are elsewhere and that is okay. It is okay to change your mind. Very few people go into college and come out of college without changing their major at least once. Sure, you may change your major back and forth and end up in the major you came into college with, but you still experienced new things and found what you really do love. This is key for adulthood. If you don’t love what you do, you will never truly be happy. The highs you experience because of those lows you hated can actually be a blessing in disguise.
When people ask me how college has been or what to expect from college, I have one answer: College is the highest highs and the lowest lows, but every single bit of college is a blessing, whether we realize it at the time or not. You see, not everyone has the chance to even attend college. In many parts of America, we are lucky because college is the expected path after high school. But in many parts of America, and in so many parts of the world outside America, college is a dream. It is a wish. It may never become a reality. So, for those going to college everywhere, enjoy your time in college and keep dreaming. Keep learning. As Steve Jobs said, “stay hungry, stay foolish.”
