Before coming to college, everyone told me, "College will be the best four years of your life." Sure, college is great and it's fun staying out as late as you want and eating what you want, but college is also some of the most stressful time people experience. Here are 10 reasons why being a college student is stressful:
1. There is never enough time to sleep
Between going to class, having a job, being involved in extracurricular activities, finding time to eat, having an internship and somehow finding time to have a social life, sleeping often falls on the back burner because there simply isn't enough hours in the day to relax.
That so-called eight hours of sleep adults need every night is eight hours of time that could be spent catching up on homework and studying for your next exam, or, I don't know, having fun since there's not any time to do so. Sleeping is very important don't get me wrong, but it's also difficult when you have 10 different assignments to complete by tomorrow.
2. Rejection is common
I don't know about you, but I can't even remember how many jobs or internships I've been rejected from because "You don't have enough experience." Okay, but isn't an internship supposed to give you experience? Aren't you supposed to get experience while you're still in college?
So many employers expect applicants to have a thick resume by the time they show up to college on the first day of freshmen year, but it's more than likely not going to happen. In college, you have to start at the bottom until you can really work your way up to get to where you want to be. It's stressful because rejection can give you doubts about yourself and what you can accomplish, but it also gives room for an amazing opportunity to come along.
3. Healthy eating is not possible
I wouldn't say I've sunk so low that I'm eating ramen noodles and easy-mac every night, but I'm definitely not eating delicious home-cooked meals like I used to. Healthy eating is expensive, and when you're on a college student's budget, junk food is the way to go. It's also difficult finding time to cook a healthy meal because once again, there just aren't enough hours in the day to slot off time for grocery shopping and cooking.
4. You're broke
College is expensive. That's all I have to say about that.
5. The stress and the pressure
Once you start college, the homework never stops. College students are under so much pressure not only because of the money they are spending, but because they want to make their parents proud, and they want to make themselves proud.
The disappointment a college student feels when they fail a test, essay or exam is like no other. Let's not even talk about failing a class. If it's a three-credit class, you more than likely just threw at least $1,200 in the toilet.
Being a college student is so stressful because you have so much to lose and so much at stake. All we want to do is succeed, but we can't do that without pulling all-nighters to finish our homework and pass our classes. Oh, and somehow find time to live and breathe.
6. The future is approaching...fast
I think every person has looked forward to adulthood at some point throughout their life. When we were kids, we thought about how cool it would be to grow up, eat what we want, be who we want and do what we want.
Once we became adults, we realized it's not as great as we thought it would be. Sure, we can do all of the said things, but it's not always easy doing what we want and being who we want. Once we graduate college, we have to face reality and realize our life is in the palm of our hands and it is what we make it.
