"College is the best four years of your life."
We've heard it time and time again, but the reality is that these four years are like none other. It feels like it was just yesterday that I was taking the SAT and ACT, weighing the pros and cons of each school, filling out applications, impatiently waiting to hear back, and finally making the decision as to where I would spend my next four years. Starting freshmen year, we looked at college with anxious eyes thinking these moments would be infinite. Fast forward two years and I'm sitting here thinking where did the time go? It's a frightening thought.
In just two years I have come to realize that college really has been the time of my life. For most, college is the first real taste of freedom. Leaving our parents at home, we venture off into a new city to live on our own. We have the liberty to make our own choices, although they may not always be the best ones. Like the night you decide to stay out later than planned and sleep through your 8 a.m. the next day. Or maybe you do make it to class, only to be reminded of the quiz you've known about for a week but completely forgot to study for. Pizza at 3 a.m? Why not? Partying more nights than I stay in studying? That's what college is for, right? In all seriousness, making our own mistakes and learning from them is part of what makes college such a valuable experience.
Meeting new people, exploring new places and learning from new experiences are three of the most rewarding opportunities we are exposed to in college. College is filled with people who come from different backgrounds and have had different experiences. There is so much to learn from individuals who have different ideas and perspectives than our own. Away from home we are surrounded by new and unfamiliar places to explore. These people, places and experiences help us figure out who we are and who we are meant to become.
In just four years, college provides us with experiences that will shape the rest of our lives and with memories we will never forget. Not only will we find ourselves, but we will find real friends who will be there for us for a lifetime. As our four years in college seem to be slipping away more quickly than we could have ever imagined, the reality behind the expression "college is the best four years of your life" has never been so real. Our time left escapes us as we try so hard to catch up and keep pace. Four years is short. So we must learn to cherish every moment and not waste another second in these four short and youthful years we will never get back.
