"College is the best four years of your life," is a common phrase that college students hear from their parents and other adults, but that statement couldn't be more inaccurate. Movies and television shows tricked us into believing that college was this wonderful world to explore and find yourself, and while that is true, being a college student isn't all that glamorous. Here are 21 reasons being a college student is actually the worst.
1. Independence isn’t all that great.
You are torn between trying to be independent and trying not to scream when there's a spider in your shower. How often are you supposed to change the oil in your car?
2. You are constantly broke, even if you work.
Life is just too expensive to try to live on while working part-time. Rent, groceries, tuition and textbooks, oh my!
3. People your age are generally unreliable.
No one can commit to anything. "Are you going to come to our study group?" "Oh, I don't know, maybe." People constantly back out of plans you made with them, even if it's something they were excited about.
4. College is mentally, physically, financially and emotionally draining.
You're always tired. Naps after class help a little bit, but you are exhausted about 99% of every day. There is so much to balance: classes, work, family and friends.
5. You are learning really hard life lessons during a vulnerable time in your life.
You're learning how to be on your own and what it means to grow up, but you are also very vulnerable when you're in college. You're doing the best you can.
6. You weigh more than you ever have, which leads to body image issues.
The freshman 15 is not a joke. Even if you go to the gym and eat healthy (but who can afford to do that?), you will gain weight. It seems to be a natural occurrence since you are fully growing into adulthood.
7. There is nothing more terrifying and exciting than “the future.”
"What are your plans after college?" is a scary thought, but the potential you have to be successful is also rewarding.
8. You feel inadequate because you are constantly compared to your peers.
It's great that Jessica has the best GPA out of everyone in your major, but she also doesn't have any relevant work experience, doesn't pay her own bills and doesn't have a social life at all. But don't worry, GPA isn't everything.
9. Literally every aspect of your life is an uncertainty.
What job will you get hired for after college, if anyone will even hire you? Where will you live next semester? When will you find your soulmate and get married? There's so much life ahead of you and it can be overwhelming if you think too hard about it.
10. The little bit of money you do have is wasted on textbooks you only open once.
How nice, your professor arranged a deal with the textbook publishing company to make a custom book for his class that doesn't include all of the chapters you won't be studying, but it's twice the cost of the original, and you will only open it once.
11. You have too many responsibilities.
You mean you're supposed to work, go to class, find time for homework, go to the gym, hang out with your friends AND remember to eat?
12. There aren’t enough hours in the day for everything you have to accomplish.
Even if you could afford to cook real meals, you wouldn't have time to cook anything. You barely have time to stand in front of the microwave for the four minutes it takes to nuke your ramen.
13. You are paying thousands of dollars for an education, but you still know nothing about solving real life problems.
You learn that there is a huge difference between being book smart and street smart. You have no idea what it means to balance a checkbook or if you did your taxes correctly, but you know that the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell.
14. If you have a job, you work erratic hours at a low-wage job, dealing with the general public.
Some people just can't be pleased.
15. What are these “weekend plans” you keep hearing about?
Your friends that already graduated or didn't go to college have awesome 9 AM to 5 PM, Monday through Friday jobs, but you're stuck working the 1 PM to 10 PM shift every Saturday. If you aren’t working on the weekend, you’re going home to see your parents or you are too broke to go anywhere.
16. College is too accessible, nowadays.
That means that your degree doesn’t mean as much as it used to, forcing you to go to school even longer, putting you into even more debt.You may have a Bachelor's degree, but it doesn't mean much anymore. Now you have to go for your Master's, medical school, or law school to be as successful as your parents were with just their Bachelor's. Grad school costs how much?!
17. You are looked down upon by adults even though you are doing the best you can.
Jenna graduated a semester early, got accepted into medical school, and now she's getting married. You are a semester behind with a mediocre GPA, and you're single, but adults keep telling you how you should be more like Jenna.
18. After you graduate, you can’t find a job in your field because you don’t have “5 years of relevant work experience.”
You have to have a degree to be qualified for a position, but you also have to have five years of relevant work experience. How is all of that possible if you're only 22 years old?!
19. Your older friends keep telling you how much you’ll miss college.
Maybe a hint of nostalgia but you also won't miss your $0.07 bank account balance and migraines from studying too long.
20. You want to get a pet, but you can't.
You can barely take care of yourself. For example: puppies are great stress reliever, but it's like having a baby with fur. You have to feed it, make sure it's getting enough exercise, and you can't leave it by itself for too long.
21. You will probably regret how much you wanted to hurry up and finish college.
Right now, you have more potential to be successful than you ever will.You are going to accomplish incredible things, but you have to finish college first.
It can be a lot to handle, but you also have thousands of other people your age struggling the same way you are and that's okay. One day you'll be living the life you always wanted, and you'll look back on your college years with love and appreciation for helping you grow into the person you were always meant to be.
