Red solo cups, binge drinking, sorority life, and joining acapella groups filters the mainstream culture and teaches the world about American college life. These images are only moments of a singular moment, only experienced by a select number of people. Not everyone joins Greek life, parties on "Thirsty Thursday," or does singing competitions. College is so large and various that there is a laundry list of other things to do besides the aforementioned. The truth about college, however, is much more serious.
College is still school, and in order to stay in college, individuals have to study, take tests, and do projects. College is mainly studying, aside from the parties and good times that come for far and in between the older you get.
College is study groups over Google Hangout, staying up until 4 am in a caffeinated blur in front of a laptop, and saying "No" to plans because 1) you have to study and 2) you're broke. With these responsibilities, life feels heavier.
The weight of your world increases on your shoulders. College becomes anxiety attacks and stress acne. It becomes overeating and the inability to move from fetal position. It is crying in your bed at midnight wondering whatever happened to the star-stud you were, and where is she now? And would she be proud of you? Do you even know who "you" are? If any college cliche film got anything right, it got the part where college is meant to be a time period to figure yourself out.
With such an intense immersion to the variety of worlds and people around you, you're going to get lost. You try on different identities and masks for the right fit, and sometimes it fits but then you outgrow it a semester later. The person that you were before college is changed by the time you graduate and this growth is so f***ing painful. You struggle to grasp onto anything resembling who you used to be and who you want to be.
You change relationships, you end them, and you start new ones. You press the restart button without ever letting go of it and are unable to reach the pause button as moments pass by you faster and faster.
College is a scary whirlwind of mistakes and achievements. It is lonely, like the first time you ate dinner alone at a dining hall because you didn't have friends to eat with yet. It is scary, like the first time you slept in a dorm room with strangers right next to you and under you. For the most part, however, you let the fear propel you into the excitement and optimism of what lies ahead and what each day will bring. For all its lonely nights, anxiety-ridden responsibilities, and toxic environments, college is a sneak peek into the life you will pave all your own.
You got this.
