College will be the best four years of your life. You will make the greatest friends you've ever had that will last you a lifetime. You should live it up now before the party that is college has to end. Every college student has heard at least one of these sentiments at one point or another, and if we are honest, these ideas have set huge expectations for what our college career is going to look like.
I am the first one to admit that I am guilty of this. I came into college with thinking these thoughts. I thought that leaving my hometown to go to school in a different state was going to allow me to have the best fresh start that I would ever experience. I believed that I would have a group of friends that would never change throughout my years at school. I was in the middle of a "perfect" relationship, even though it was long distance. I was going to have the freedom I'd always wanted when I was living with my parents. I was going to have everything all figured out. And I was going to have the absolute best time of my life at college.
But what happens when we realize those expectations we had can't be met? What happens when we find out that college is actually kind of hard? What do we do when things start to be different than we imagined?
No one likes when things don't turn out like we planned or imagined. We hope for certain things, and when they don't pan out as we expect, it can be heartbreaking. It can be a rude awakening to find out that not everything about college is great and fun. There are times when you are bound to feel lonely or homesick. Maybe classes are way tougher than you expected, or you found out you don't actually want to major in what you originally planned on. It might even be that it is taking longer to make friends and find your place than you anticipated.
But you don't have to let these unmet expectations determine or control your college experience. You can still have an amazing time in college and meet some pretty great people along the way. I have found that accepting that no one is ever going to have all of the answers makes enjoying my experience so much easier. Being patient and showing myself grace in finding real, quality friends has been the greatest decision of my time so far. I can honestly say that despite the fact that my entire plan and all of my expectations have changed, I am so much happier than when I was trying to live up to crazy expectations. Life is so much better and more fulfilling when we can trust that the future is going to work itself out. So just be patient, enjoy the little daily victories, and know that while college is super awesome the greatest years of your life are still to come.
