My idea of college vs. my actual experience
When I dreamt of college, I imagined having the time of my life. I imagined making a ton of friends and partying every weekend. I thought it would be like high school, easy and effortless. I fantasized of a beautiful apartment filled with beautiful furniture and healthy plants. When I thought about my college self, I had imagined myself with a Starbucks coffee and a huge scarf.
I have realized that image was completely wrong and I think I had watched too many movies. College is hard, like trying to get to the end of the week, every week.
College is waking up at six a.m. to volunteer, do homework, study for an exam, and try to take your first shower in three days. College is also sleeping in and missing your eight a.m. biochemistry class because you know your mental health is at risk if you don’t get some sleep.
College (for me) is avoiding making friends because you don’t have time for friends and you don’t have time or energy to go out and be social. College is working on Saturday nights and watching parties on someone else's snapchat story.
College is going to every study session they offer and barely making a B on the exam. It’s doing the entire group presentation and getting the same grade as someone who literally did nothing.
I had always imagined myself living on campus and walking to class, peacefully and enjoying the beautiful weather around me. Well I live on campus, but most the time I’m running to class because I was doing the before class learning objectives last minute. If I’m not running to class, I’m driving there because I’m lazy and ran out of time. And then getting a ticket for $55 because your meter ran over by two minutes.
Earlier I mentioned some chick in a scarf with a coffee. If you see her, let me know. If you see the girl in sweats with a sports t-shirt and her hair in a bun on top of her head, that’s me, but don’t bother saying hi because I’m probably going to pretend I don’t see you anyways. Sorry, I’m in a rush.
College means skipping going out because you would rather spend those two hours, studying for your exam. It means lying about having to work because you would literally rather just sleep.
Even though college SUCKS and it’s hard and I think about the debt I’m in every single day, I would still rather be in college struggling than on the street struggling. Yes, I could be working full time and be making a lot of money and probably be a lot happier. But in the long run, I know I need to stay in college. I know my life will be better in the long run. I love college as much as I hate it and I love learning something new every day.
If you’re reading this and considering dropping out of college, pull through. Just get through this week, get through the next, get that degree and try to truly enjoy your college experience. Even if that just means barely getting a B.
