They say college is the best time of your life: You meet the friends you will know for the rest of your lives, you make memories that you will never forget and you learn who you really are. College is more than just preparing you for your job; it prepares you for life. All the fun times teach you how to enjoy yourself every once in a while. However, what they don't tell you is the numerous times they have stayed up until 5 a.m. writing a paper for the class they have at 8:30 a.m. Or that they have written a 13-page lab report to just the results section; they don't mention the other 9 pages on top of that. Or that they failed their first two exams and had to scramble just to pass. Many people tell you about the crazy and fun times they had in college, but few mention the stressful times when reflecting back at their college experience.
In college, there are going to be rough times. There are going to be times you wonder why you are still in college. Why didn't I go directly into the workforce? There will be times when you will question the major you chose. Do I really want to be a doctor? Especially early on, you will wonder why you took that 8:30 a.m. literature course that sounded really cool. More than academics, there will be the stress of meeting new people, making new friends, watching out for different people and dealing with new relationships. There will be late nights, tears, sweat and stress. But college is the time you try to figure out what to do in extremely stressful situations.
These are the times when you meet your friends. The lab partner who is up until 5 a.m. with you, they'll be your best friend for a long time. Or the exams that you failed, you will learn how to study better for the next one and completely ace it. Those people you were nervous to meet will become your closest friends and will help you through all the crazy relationship stuff. Yes, there are a lot of stressful instances in college, but those stressful times are what shape your character. They show you who your real friends are because those friends will be right with you going through the same situations. The reason people don't tell you about the bad times is because something great came from it. All those different doubts will shortly be accompanied by encouragement such as, "I want to be a doctor to help people." Or "I am in college because I work hard and want to make a difference in the world." There are good and bad times in college, but the good times certainly overshadow the bad.
