A home away from home and a place that you can finally be on your own. College is the first step to being an adult for most students and it could be the best or worst time of your life.

A further advanced high school, but with less drama because in college, there are free spirits everywhere and our most popular words are “Who cares?”

No one really cares what you wear because we are all struggling. No one judges your interests because we are trying to be somebody. And sometimes it’s like you’re starting all over from ninth grade, but in this setting everyone is meeting each other for the first time.

Experiences.

Experiences is the first word that comes to mind, if I had to define it. It’s the in-between of a teenager and adult where you have time to make mistakes, find yourself, discover your path and practice a piece of what the real world looks like.

You’ll probably have a roommate who is completely opposite of you, a dorm that’s smaller than your closet, a professor who won’t give you a break, parties that you’ll remember for a lifetime and some things that you will never want to speak of again.

But there are also opportunities.

Many people consider college a “scam” because most of our learnings are subjects that we could have taught ourselves, but opportunity is one thing that most universities or colleges offer best.

While at Michigan State University, I’ve encountered so many networking, job shadowing, career fairs and hands-on learning experiences. They’ve given me more than an education and classroom setting.

My college has hired employees to specifically cater to our work experience and internship necessities to assure we are prepared when we step off this campus. I applaud them for that.

So before you take a shot at students giving their money to “the white man,” think about the investment we just placed into our own futures, where we control the stocks.