Growing up, there's a phrase we all hear, all the time: College is going to be the best four years of your life. We hear it from guidance counselors, family friends and university recruiters at one of the hundred college fairs we get dragged to in high school. Thinking about college being the best four years of your life can be exciting. For those of us who really wanted to get out of our small towns, it gave us hope that the next four years would see us coming into our element and turning into "real" people.

Then, we get to college. Everything is new and exciting and fun and ... completely overwhelming. Especially as freshmen, we have the idea that every moment of college has to be filled with some kind of activity, and none of those activities can be done alone. You have to study with friends, eat every meal with friends and spend every weekend night going out with friends. Everyone you meet during your first semester is going to be your best friend for the next four years and will probably be a bridesmaid at your wedding.

None of these things are bad in and of themselves. They can all contribute to college being one of the "best" experiences you have. But here's the thing, you can't do all the great things all the time. However, that's what you expect when you think of college as the best four years of your life – it should be filled with nothing but great times, and you'll finally be at your peak.

I love college, but I'm terrified of the idea that I'm peaking right now. Really? Right now, when I put off assignments until midnight the night before they're due and eat mac and cheese every day? When I can't motivate myself to work out because watching "Friends" on Netflix is so much easier? I don't think so.

In college, you're growing, you're changing and you're figuring out who you are. You're finding out what your passions are, what your strengths and weaknesses are and who your real friends are. Those things are amazing.They are some of the most important lessons you can take from your college experience, and they'll have an impact on you far more than what you learn in the classroom.

It took me a long time to figure out that these great things wouldn't be happening all the time, and that the process of figuring out who I am wouldn't be an easy one. I had so many ups and downs my freshman year that I considered transferring schools because I thought I was "doing college wrong." College wasn't supposed to be so hard. I was supposed to be putting all my pre-going-out hallway pictures on Instagram and making lifelong friends from day one. I wasn't supposed to be eating dinner alone or questioning whether I made friends with the right people. I had friends, but did I have enough friends? I spent the summer after my freshman year worrying about going back to school.

I had to take the pressure of having the best four years of my life off my shoulders. Instead, I started thinking of college as the most four years of my life. The most crazy stories, the most late-night ice cream runs, the most emotional growth. When I started thinking of these years as the most instead of the best, I experienced everything fully. When I went through a shift in my friend group, instead of mourning the lost dream of keeping my best friends from day one, I was thankful for all the new people who were a better fit for me. Instead of feeling left out when I ate dinner alone, I reveled in the time to myself where I could decompress.

College might very well be four of the best years of your life, but there are even better years ahead of you. You'll take the things you learn about yourself and make every year one of the best. In a lot of ways, college will be the most fun you'll have – but some things will slow down, and others will speed up, and soon, your years will be the best in a different way. You'll look back on your four years of college and think, "Wow, I learned so much, and I had a lot of fun doing it. But that was just one part of my life that I've built." Looking back, you'll see your crazy self doing the most, but you'll see how things have just kept getting better.

Now, go out there and do the most. For now, while you still can.