In college there are the students who have their entire life together--they haven't gone broke to pay for school, and they always seem to be in a good mood. There are also the students who are struggling to keep scholarships to pay for college, working three jobs just to pay for tuition and struggle with finding time to work on schoolwork in the first place. There is also the average college student. Most of their money goes to food, clothes, and the occasional pizza delivery. Breaking it down, I thought of a few other things that seem to be common with the average college student.
1. Being broke. This one seems to be something I hear about from a lot of people. Even if your family and scholarships are helping you pay for college tuition, you want to earn your own money. You want to buy your own food and clothes so that you feel like you're not relying completely on your family. But then when you get everything you need, you tend to not have much money for anything extra, or even for emergencies, which is stressful to think about.
2. Eating lots of ramen. Ramen is cheap and easy to cook, so a lot of college students stock up on it. Whenever you have those late nights of studying and you need something to eat fast and easy, it's the first thing to turn to. It doesn't take long to make, so you can get back to studying quickly. Try not to eat too much, though, or find other healthier quick meals. That stuff is really bad for you.
3. Netflix is life. Even when you get really busy, it's nice to put a show like "Friends" on in the background to listen to while you finish up your work. Oddly enough it helps me focus more on my work if I have a show going on in the background. Maybe the few seconds I watch on the show give myself enough of a short break to help me think again and then I can get my work done. Then I get to focus on the show completely when I'm finished!
4. Ordering a pizza is equal to a fancy dinner. When you don't feel like cooking but you want a break from ramen, pizza is the next best thing. Not only do you get the food delivered to you, all you had to do was make a call to get a large pepperoni pizza with spicy ranch on the side. When you have no time to go out on the town and go to a nice place, this becomes your fancy night. Enjoy it.
5. Your friends become your family. Most college kids go off and don't live with their families anymore. You get the opportunity to make new friends and find people to live with. Those friends become family. When you're on campus you get to eat all three meals with them instead of just lunch, and you spend more time with them than you did with your friends in high school. Instead of going over on weekends, you live with each other full-time. Sometimes that breaks a friendship, but sometimes it brings you closer. Cherish the time with your friends because one day you'll be moving in with that significant other and you'll go back to just visiting each other's houses.
College is a whole new world, and everyone has their differences, but everyone also has their similarities. Everyone wants to find their friends for life, get their degree, and feel important in the world. Even if you don't feel that way yet, I'm sure you will. You just have to meet the right people. It takes time and patience, and getting out of your comfort zone to meet new people.
