On the drive to work today, my dad shared with me what his dad told him when he was about to start college. He said, “It’s going to be the best four years of your life.”

Anyone in my shoes has probably been told this dozens of time throughout this summer. It seems to be the popular guidance among relatives, family friends, coworkers, or other adults in our lives. My dad told this to my older brother two years ago when he was starting college, but this morning he told me he wished he hadn’t.

Instead, he said to me, “It might not be the best four years of your life, and that’s OK.”

The expectation that college will be “the best four years of our lives” gives off the allusion that college is all fun, unflawed, and perfectly great every day. So many incoming freshmen go into it thinking that freedom+new friends+parties=a perfect life. They have this need for instant gratification of those unrealistic expectations. The reality, however, is much different, and it is not as perfect as it seems. Sure college should, and most likely will, be a lot of fun. Your freedom will certainly enable you to do more, but with that freedom comes responsibility.

My dad pointed out to me that, while he loved his time in college, the first year (especially the first semester) was certainly difficult. It’s a huge adjustment, and it comes with a lot of challenges. You will be challenged academically. You will get homesick. You will struggle with time management. You will miss your friends. You will worry about making new friends. You will not know your way around campus immediately. You will have to take initiative, put in the effort, ask questions, and sometimes step out of your comfort zone. But it’s important to remember that with these challenges, comes growth. You will grow academically. You will start to feel at home in your dorm. You will learn how to manage your time. You will be reunited with your friends on breaks and it will have been worth the wait. You will make new friends at school. You will learn your way around campus. You will be glad that you took initiative, put in effort, asked questions, and stepped out of your comfort zone, because it is worth it. It will take time to get into your groove at college, and you will inevitably struggle. Make sure you don’t let those struggles discourage you because perseverance is pivotal to success.

I am undeniably excited for college. However, I am constantly reminding myself that it’s not going to be immediately easy or a perfect life. I know that I will be faced with challenges, and I am eager to conquer them, because I know those challenges, both academic and social, are part of the overall education process.

Who knows what the next four years have in store for me? As my dad said, it may not be the best four years of my life, but that’s OK. If not, that just means my best four years are yet to come, which, I think, is still pretty cool. But I do think my dad’s advice will help me be patient in my expectations, and that patience will make my college experience more fulfilling. It may not be the best four years of my life. But then again, it just might.