As I sat watching my cousin's high school graduation this past weekend, I tried to remember my own high school graduation. All the confusion and excitement that accompanies the post-high school, pre-college period seems like just a distant memory now that I'm about to start my third year of college. I've learned a lot over these past few years, but when it comes to giving advice about college I'm not exactly the most eloquent. So in place of my own limited words of wisdom, which mostly just include such thrilling tidbits as know how to do your laundry before you get to school and make sure you don't spend all your money at the bookstore, here are a few of the life lessons I've learned in college as told by the great Tina Fey and Amy Poehler.
1. "Don't waste your energy trying to change opinions. Do your thing, and don't care if they like it." - Tina Fey
As a lifelong people pleaser this may have been one of the hardest things for me to learn in college, but it's true: not everyone is going to like you. It's not because you're not funny enough, or cool enough, or pretty enough (because, duh, you are), they just don't like you. And that's OK, because there will be people you just don't like either. It's just a natural part of life, so don't bother wasting your energy trying to change peoples' opinions about you. Instead focus on spending time with the people who already like you, because they're the ones who really matter.
2. "Great people do things before they're ready. They do things before they know they can do it." - Amy Poehler
Fear is completely normal, especially during a transition as tough as the one between high school and college. That being said, don't let fear hold you back from making the most of these years. I can honestly say that college has been the best period of my life so far, and it's hard to believe I'm already half done. So as someone who only has a couple more years left to live with their best friends, go to interesting classes and have relatively little responsibilities outside of class, trust me when I say you'll went to soak in every moment.
3. "If you retain nothing else, always remember the most important rule of beauty, which is: who cares?" - Tina Fey
Now as anyone who is even slightly familiar with who I am as a person knows, I'm not exactly a beauty aficionado. That being said, I've learned over the past two years that everyone feels beautiful in a different context. Some people—which may or may not include me—feel beautiful when they've showered, brushed my hair, put on mascara and maybe some lipstick, and, most importantly, have their daily coffee in hand. Others like to be a little more dressed up, and maybe don't necessarily share the same caffeine addiction as those first people. My point is this: Regardless of what beauty routine you have, the important thing is that it makes you feel fantastic about yourself, not that others are in awe of you (especially because apparently people aren't impressed when I shower and put on mascara all before my 8 a.m., which just goes to prove that not everyone recognizes a miracle when they see one).
4. "Rooting for other people's failure does get in the way of your success." - Amy Poehler
Arguably the most difficult lesson to follow, it's also one of the most important. It's easy to want to be the best by default, just by having everyone do worse than you. It's also easy to get jealous of your friends' successes when you may be in a stage of your life where you're not feeling the same amount of accomplishment. What's hard is being truly supportive of your friends, even when it means putting aside your own feelings to celebrate theirs. The high road is sometimes the hard road, but I can promise you that success feels a million times better when you've earned it all on your own and your friends are just as excited as you are.
5. "It's easier to be brave when you're not alone."- Amy Poehler
It's true that going to college means lots of new challenges, but conquering those challenges somehow doesn't seem quite as hard when you have a friend by your side. Build up your support system and don't be afraid to let people in. College is a scary time for everyone, but that doesn't mean you have to go through it alone. As Tina Fey and Amy Poehler's incredible friendship goes to show, if you find the right person they'll make you kinder, funnier and most importantly happier.
